Unbreakable
by cleotheo
Summary: When Hermione Granger gets pregnant in school she refuses to name the father of her unborn child to the Professors or her friends. Draco Malfoy knows the child is his and he's busy planning on getting him, Hermione and their child safely away from his father, who is determined to make Draco take the dark mark and join the Death Eaters.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Unbreakable is one whole story, but is split into two parts. Part one deals with Hermione and Draco's sixth year and is more serious in tone. Part two is set two years later and is lighter in nature. **

**The story starts just before sixth year and Voldemort and the war are very much a presence. Lucius however is not in prison, therefore events of sixth year run different.**

* * *

**Part One.**

Draco Malfoy stood in his bedroom, carefully packing his Hogwarts trunk. School started the following week and the blond Slytherin was making sure he was prepared for his sixth year. After packing all his clothes and personal belongings, he started on his books. Halfway through his packing Draco realised that his potions book wasn't in the pile. Thinking about where he had last seen the book Draco suddenly remembered the late night reading he had been doing the previous night in the library. When he'd headed to bed he'd clearly left his potions book downstairs.

Draco finished the rest of his packing and closed the trunk before leaving his bedroom and heading down to the library. After a five minute search Draco found the book and turned to head back to his room. On his way back to his bedroom Draco had to pass his father's study and as he approached the room he was dismayed to hear the quiet voices of his father and aunt.

Draco didn't exactly get on with his father so he wanted to pass the room without Lucius spotting him. His aunt Bellatrix was hardly any better and Draco had spent most of the holidays avoiding the demented witch. Luckily both his father and aunt had been more concerned with Voldemort over the summer, so he had seen precious little of either of them, much to his delight. Tiptoeing across the hallway outside his father's study Draco paused when he heard his name mentioned. Curious as to what Lucius and Bellatrix were saying about him Draco crept closer to the study door.

"I'm just saying that Draco doesn't exactly seem keen on joining The Dark Lord." Bellatrix said.

"Keen or not, it's what he's going to do." Lucius replied. "Come next summer Draco will be a Death Eater."

"And what does Narcissa think of this?" Bellatrix asked, referring to her sister who was Lucius's wife and Draco's mother.

"Her opinion is of no interest to me." Lucius snorted, the contempt he felt for his wife clear for Draco to hear in his voice. "Narcissa knows better than to argue against any decision I make. Next summer Draco will receive the mark and neither he nor Narcissa will dare complain."

"You're so masterful, Lucius." Bellatrix chuckled, causing Draco to grimace outside and tiptoe away from the door.

He had suspected for a while his father and aunt were having an affair and judging by his father's next remark, regarding showing Bellatrix exactly how masterful he was, Draco figured he was right. Quickly but quietly Draco continued to walk away from his father's study, heading back to his own room. Once in his bedroom Draco threw his potions book in his trunk before collapsing onto the bed, thinking about what he had discovered.

Draco wasn't the slightest bit bothered by the fact his father and aunt were having an affair. All his life he's known his parents' marriage was an arranged one, based on the fact they were both purebloods. He also knew they definitely didn't love each other, most of the time they barely tolerated each other. His father's affair didn't bother him, what bothered him was the mention of Draco joining the Death Eaters.

All his life Draco had been taught that purebloods were above everyone else and that muggleborns were a blight on the wizarding world. Draco had truly believed his father's words until he started Hogwarts. For the first time in his life Draco was surrounded by half-bloods and muggleborns and he saw for himself that they were no different to him. Draco spent the first year of Hogwarts trying to decide if his father was right about purebloods being superior, eventually deciding that maybe his father was wrong. However, Draco made the mistake of voicing this opinion to Lucius during the summer between his first and second year and his father had gone ballistic. Lucius had spent all summer lecturing Draco about purebloods and by the time he started his second year Draco was scared to admit he didn't believe a word his father said.

It was Draco's disillusion with his father's beliefs that led him to befriend a muggleborn, Hermione Granger, in second year. At first Draco befriended Hermione as a way of silently rebelling against Lucius, but he soon came too really like the feisty Gryffindor witch. Right from the beginning their friendship was a secret as Draco knew how badly his father would react if he discovered their friendship.

Draco knew his father's reaction would be even worse now as their friendship had progressed into a romantic relationship. Draco was head over heels in love with Hermione and there was no way he was joining a dark wizard who believed all muggleborns should be wiped off the face of the earth. Draco had been hoping he would have a choice regarding joining the Death Eaters, but with the conversation he had just heard Draco knew that it wasn't on option now.

Draco lay thinking about what he was going to do for several hours, but he could only come up with one plan. He had to run away, he had to go somewhere that Lucius couldn't find him. Draco knew just going to the Order wasn't an option, Lucius would know exactly where he was and he wouldn't put it past his father to use his mother as a way of getting him to return home and toe the line.

As far as Draco could see running was the only option, now he just had to hope he could persuade Hermione to come with him. Whether he could persuade his girlfriend to come or not, Draco knew he had to leave. He didn't want to leave Hermione but he would if he had to, no matter what happened he wasn't sticking around to receive the dark mark the following summer.

* * *

**...**

* * *

A couple of days later Draco found himself in Diagon Alley with his mother. They had done his school shopping several weeks ago but Narcissa needed a few bits and bobs so Draco had volunteered to come with her. Draco did however have an ulterior motive in accompanying his mother to Diagon Alley.

Since overhearing his father's conversation Draco had been making plans to flee. He knew there was no point running before he turned seventeen as he until then he would still have the magical trace on him that detected underage magic. He also knew that when he did run he would need money. Normally money wasn't something he had to think about but he didn't want to raise Lucius's suspicions by emptying his bank account, instead he had a few plans to ensure that by the end of the school year he would have enough money to run away.

"I need to get a few new robes." Narcissa told her son. "Why don't you go and look in the bookshop or something." She suggested, knowing how boring it was for a young boy to be clothes shopping with his mother.

"I think I will." Draco replied, relieved he didn't have to try and find an excuse to get away from his mother.

"I'll meet you outside Flourish and Blotts in half an hour." Narcissa said, kissing Draco on the cheek before setting off for the robe shop.

Draco waited until his mother had disappeared into the shop before turning and heading towards Gringotts. Entering the wizarding bank he joined the queue and before long he was standing in front of a goblin.

"I want a few things from my vault." Draco told the goblin. "I also want to amend my weekly allowance."

From an early age Draco had his own Gringotts account in which his inheritance from his maternal grandparents was placed, along with bits and pieces Narcissa added for him. When he had started Hogwarts, Narcissa had brought him to the bank and set up an allowance that was sent to Hogwarts every week. Over the years Draco had upped the allowance as he saw fit, but this year he was upping it for a special reason. He knew that unless he upped it to a ridiculous amount the goblins would think nothing of it and there would be no reason to inform Lucius.

After amending his weekly allowance to give him a substantial amount to save every week, along with enough to hold onto in case he wanted anything, Draco and the goblin took a ride down to his vault. In his vault Draco found a couple of pieces of jewellery and antiques that his father wouldn't recognise and pocketed them. He was planning on selling them in Knockturn Alley so he had deliberately picked a few things that had come from the Black side of the family, therefore if Lucius saw them for some reason he wouldn't recognise them.

After finishing in Gringotts, Draco hurried out of the bank and crept towards Knockturn Alley. Checking to make sure he hadn't been spotted Draco pulled up his cloak over his head and slipped into the side street known for its association with the dark arts. Half an hour later he emerged from Borgin and Burkes with a bag full of galleons. Again double checking he hadn't been seen Draco re-entered Diagon Alley where he rushed off to meet his mother.

* * *

**...**

* * *

Despite his precautions Draco had in fact been seen entering and leaving Knockturn Alley. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley had been in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes when they spotted the blond skulking past the window, looking suspicious.

"What do you think Malfoy is up to?" Harry asked Ron as they watched the blond pass the window.

"Knowing him, he'll be up to no good." Ron snorted.

"Maybe we should follow him." Harry suggested. "I've got the invisibility cloak in my bag."

"Great, let's go before mum spots us." Ron said as the two boys snuck off towards the door.

Before leaving the shop the two Gryffindors threw the invisibility cloak over themselves. Once outside the two boys scanned the streets in search of the blond Slytherin they hated. Just as they thought they had lost him, Harry spotted him pulling his cloak up before darting into Knockturn Alley. Quickly the two boys followed him into Knockturn Alley, just say spotting him slinking into Borgin and Burkes.

"What do you think he's up to?" Ron whispered as they peered in the window of the shop.

They couldn't risk entering the shop as there was a bell over the door, so they had to content themselves with looking through the window. From their position they could see Draco's back as he stood at the counter talking to the man behind it.

"I don't know, but it has to be something dark." Harry said. "Everyone knows you only come to Knockturn Alley if you're doing something you shouldn't be."

"Do you think he's doing something for You Know Who?" Ron asked, his eyes widening at the thought.

"Could be." Harry nodded. "Everyone knows his father is a Death Eater, it only makes sense that Malfoy will follow in his footsteps."

Ron nodded in agreement but before they could debate any further, the door to the shop opened and Draco emerged. The boys followed the Slytherin as he crept back to Diagon Alley, all the time checking to make sure no-one had spotted him. Once they were back into the sunlight of Diagon Alley, Harry and Ron watched Draco rush off to the bookshop where he was joined by his mother. As the two Malfoy's disappeared into the crowds, Harry and Ron returned to the twins joke shop.

"Where have you two been?" Ron's mother, Molly Weasley demanded upon spotting the pair.

"Nowhere." Ron replied. "We've just been looking around the shop."

Molly looked at them suspiciously for several minutes, before buying their excuse. "Stay here, we're leaving in a few minutes."

Harry and Ron nodded and remained where they were as Molly found Ron's sister, Ginny and said goodbye to the twins. With everyone accounted for Molly ushered them out of the shop as they continued on with their shopping. With Molly and Ginny so close Harry and Ron didn't get a chance to discuss what they had witnessed, but they knew they would have the perfect chance a few days later when they were travelling to school.

The two boys were looking forward to discussing Malfoy and his actions in more depth, they were also looking forward to telling their best friend, Hermione Granger, what they had discovered. For some reason Hermione had always insisted that the blond Slytherin wasn't as bad as they claimed, but with what they had seen there was no way Hermione could deny that Malfoy was up to no good.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione Granger sat on the Hogwarts Express, staring out the window as she tried to ignore Harry and Ron's malicious gossiping. The second the trio had settled down in their compartment the boys couldn't wait to divulge what they had seen a few days earlier. Initially they just repeated what they had seen, namely Draco in Knockturn Alley, but they then started speculating about what he was doing and making wild accusations. Hermione had pointed out that all they had seen was him visiting a shop, but her friend's dismissed her protests. They were convinced the blond was up to something dark and nothing Hermione could say would change their minds.

With Harry and Ron refusing to listen to reason, Hermione had tuned them out and had taken to staring at the view outside the train. Hermione knew her boyfriend wouldn't have been doing anything dark, but she must admit she was curious as to what he was doing. She knew the only time Draco normally visited Knockturn Alley was with Lucius so it was strange that he was there alone.

Despite her curiosity, Hermione eventually stop thinking about what Draco had been up to as she settled down to read. Her friends continued to speculate, even going as far to wonder if Draco was now a Death Eater, but Hermione knew she would get answers when she was able to talk to Draco. Hermione wasn't exactly sure how long it would be before she got to speak to Draco, but she did know it would be as soon as they could manage to sneak away.

Unfortunately for Hermione she wasn't able to go anywhere on the first night back at Hogwarts. Her friends were always around and because classes hadn't started she didn't have the excuse of going off to do homework. Instead Hermione had to satisfy herself with watching Draco across The Great Hall and sharing a secret smile with her boyfriend.

* * *

**...**

* * *

Hermione sat perched on the edge of a green sofa in the room of requirements. Since Hermione's friends had discovered the room the previous year it was always where she and Draco now met up. Before fifth year the pair had met up in quiet corners of the library and deserted classrooms, but the room of requirement offered them a lot more privacy and meant less chance of them being caught.

The extra privacy also came in handy now things had progressed romantically between the pair. Getting caught together in any way would be bad, but getting caught acting like a couple would be even worse. Then there was the fact their relationship was gradually turning more physical and Hermione knew they were very close to finally sleeping together.

Hermione was still busy thinking of her relationship with Draco when the door opened and her boyfriend entered the room. Hermione immediately jumped up off the sofa and ran towards the blond, throwing herself into his arms. Draco wrapped his arms tightly around Hermione and held her close. The forbidden nature of their relationship meant they hadn't spoken or seen each other since the end of the previous year.

"I've missed you." Hermione said.

"I've missed you, too." Draco said, stroking Hermione's hair.

The couple stood embracing for several more minutes, until they walked over to the sofa and settled down on it. Hermione curled up next to Draco and for a while they talked about their respective summers and what they had been up to. The couple had been talking for nearly half an hour before Hermione brought up what Harry and Ron had seen a few days earlier.

"So now they have this stupid idea that you're involved with something dark." Hermione concluded, after telling Draco what her friends had told her.

"Well I'm not." Draco replied. "You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Hermione reassured her boyfriend. "I told them there would be a logical explanation, but you know what they're like. They hate you and just won't accept that you're not a bad person."

"Potter and Weasley can go screw themselves, I couldn't care less what they think." Draco sneered, his distaste for Hermione's friends evident. "The only person whose opinion matters to me, is you."

"I definitely don't think you're evil." Hermione smiled. "I love you and that's all that matters to me."

"I love you too." Draco said, giving Hermione a quick kiss. "So do you want to know what I was doing in Knockturn Alley?"

"Only if you want to tell me." Hermione replied. She was curious as to what Draco had been doing, but she wasn't going to force him into revealing anything. "I trust you and know you weren't doing anything bad."

"I suppose that all depends what you consider bad." Draco said. "I was selling a few things I'd inherited from my grandparents."

"Why?" Hermione questioned. She knew money wasn't a problem for Draco so she was unsure why he was selling his belongings.

"I need the money." Draco sighed, wondering about the best way to tell Hermione what was going on.

"What's going on Draco?" Hermione looked at her boyfriend, instantly able to tell he was hiding something from her. "Why do you need the money?"

"I suppose I should start from the beginning." Draco said. "Last week I was walking past my father's study and heard him and aunt Bella talking. They want to give me the dark mark next summer."

"Just because they want you to have it doesn't mean you have to take it." Hermione said.

"You know it doesn't work like that, Hermione." Draco snorted. "If Lucius has made the decision, I won't get a choice. Next summer he plans on having me take the mark."

"What are you going to do?" Hermione questioned, knowing Draco didn't want to join Voldemort. "Maybe I could speak to Dumbledore and see about you joining the Order."

"That's not an option, Hermione." Draco sighed. "If I was with the Order, father would know exactly where to find me. I won't risk him using my mother to get me to do as he wishes."

"You make it sound like you're leaving." Hermione whispered as she began to read between the lines of what Draco was saying.

"I am." Draco admitted. "It's the only way I can avoid taking the mark. At the end of the year I'm going to run, and I won't be back anytime soon."

Hermione dropped her head so that Draco couldn't see the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. "That's why you needed the money."

"Yes, I've already got a good bit saved up and I'll continue saving all year." Draco answered. "I should have more than enough by then. I'll even have enough to support two people."

"Two people?" Hermione looked up, wondering if Draco was saying what she thought he was.

"Hopefully." Draco replied, taking hold of Hermione's hand. "I want you to come with me, Hermione. I know you've got more to leave behind than me, but I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you, either." Hermione said. "But is this really the only option?"

"It's the only option I can see." Draco replied. "If I don't get away I'll be forced into taking the mark. I don't want the mark, Hermione. I don't want to be branded as someone who hates muggleborns and supports bastards like Voldemort and my father."

"I understand." Hermione nodded sympathetically. "I get why you have to leave."

"But you're not coming with me." Draco stated sadly. He couldn't ignore the fact that Hermione hadn't responded to his plea, in fact she had just tried to find a different answer to his problem.

"I didn't say that." Hermione argued. "I'm not going to lie Draco, it's a huge decision I have to make. I'm going to need time to think about it."

"You've got all year." Draco smiled slightly, breathing a huge sigh of relief that Hermione hadn't dismissed the idea of joining him completely out of hand. "I'm not leaving until the last day of term."

"You seem to have a pretty solid plan." Hermione commented. She knew Draco well enough to know her boyfriend would have started making plans the second he came up with the idea of running.

"It still needs work, but it's pretty straightforward. I spend the year saving everything I can and on the last day of term instead of boarding the Hogwarts Express, I run." Draco explained.

"Where to?"

"As far away from here as I can get. I'll be seventeen by then and I won't have the magical trace on me so no-one will be able to find me using my magic."

"Is anyone helping you arrange this?" Hermione asked, wondering if he had confided in his mother or even his godfather, Severus Snape.

"No, you're the only person I've told and you're the only person I intend on telling." Draco replied.

"What about your mother? I know you wouldn't want her to worry about you."

"I'm going to leave her a note, telling her I'm sorry and I'll be in touch when I can." Draco answered. "She doesn't want me involved in any of this, she'll understand why I'm going."

"What about Professor Snape?" Hermione asked. "He would help you without question."

Draco couldn't help but smile at the mention of his godfather. While Lucius had been a neglectful father and constantly badgered Draco to do better, Severus was always supportive of Draco. Draco cared for Severus much more than he did Lucius, and he thought of the potions master as his true father figure. The feeling was entirely mutual and Snape had long ago confided in Draco that he was working with the Order to bring Voldemort down.

"Yeah, he would." Draco nodded, knowing Hermione was right and that Severus would help him in any way possible. "But I can't put more pressure on him."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"He has to work really hard to make sure Voldemort doesn't find out he's really on the light side. I don't want to give him more stuff he has to hide from The Dark Lord." Draco explained. "I know he would help, but I would never forgive myself if while he was protecting my secrets he accidentally let slip his own. Like with mother I'll leave him a note and hope he understands."

"Was that what you were planning on doing with me?" Hermione asked quietly. "Leave me a note and hope I would understand why you were leaving?"

Draco immediately shook his head in response to Hermione's questions. "No. I was always going to tell you and beg you to come with me. I would never just up and leave without telling you I was going."

"I'm pleased." Hermione said. "I would have understood what you were doing, but I would have been so hurt to be left without a word."

"I promise I'll never leave without saying goodbye." Draco offered, smiling at Hermione as he tried to lighten the mood.

"Even if I decide not to come with you?" Hermione asked.

"Even if you decide not to come, I'll say goodbye." Draco reassured Hermione. "Although I am still hoping you'll come with me."

"I wish I could give you an answer now, but I really need to think it through." Hermione sighed. Her heart was telling her to go with Draco but she was smart enough to know she needed time to think before making such a life changing decision.

"Take as long as you want, Hermione." Draco told his girlfriend. "I'm not pressuring you into anything, I'll accept whatever you decide."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled at Draco before leaning forward and connecting their lips.

Draco pulled Hermione closer to him and deepened the kiss. Eventually the couple had to separate as they reluctantly parted ways. After exchanging a few more kisses Draco eventually left the room. Hermione followed a few minutes later and as she headed back to Gryffindor Tower she thought about what she was going to do. Over the course of the upcoming year she had some hard choices to make regarding her future.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco stepped into the shower, instantly relaxing as the hot water cascaded over his body. After being back at school for just over a month Draco was more than ready to leave the castle behind. Since he wasn't returning for his last year he had little interest in his school work and was only doing enough to maintain his grades at an acceptable level. Draco knew if he slacked off too much someone might decide to inform Dumbledore and he wouldn't put it past the old headmaster to call Lucius.

Instead of concentrating on his school work Draco was focusing most of his energies on Quidditch. He had been made captain this year and since it was his last he would like to go out with a winning season. Draco was currently putting together a team that he reckoned could finally beat Gryffindor and in preparation he was working the team extra hard. Two players had already quit the team claiming Draco was a slave driver but the blond replaced them and carried on with his plans to build a strong team.

Draco knew a large part of his focus on Quidditch was so that he didn't have to think about the end of the year and potentially leaving Hermione behind. In the weeks since their initial talk about Draco's plans they had never once mentioned the subject again. Draco didn't want to bring up the subject as he didn't want to look as though he was pushing Hermione into making a decision. While he would have preferred to know where he stood as soon as possible he was going to give Hermione as much time as she needed to reach a decision.

With his thoughts still preoccupied with his girlfriend, Draco finished his shower and got dressed. Wandering into the dorm room he shared with the other sixth year boys, Draco was relieved to find they were all elsewhere. A quick glance at the clock revealed it was dinner time but the thought of going to The Great Hall was unappealing to Draco. Calling for a house elf Draco asked for a sandwich as he settled down on his bed.

After eating his sandwich Draco got out his transfiguration book and made a lacklustre start on his homework. Half an hour later Draco was still writing the first paragraph of his essay and was beginning to get bored. Luckily the feeling of his signet ring getting warm distracted him. The ring was connected to a bracelet of Hermione's and in third year the pair of them had enchanted the two bits of jewellery so they could contact each other. Pressing his finger against the ring Draco sent a response before putting his books away and leaving the dorm room and heading down to the common room.

"Hey Draco, why weren't you at dinner?" Theo Nott called as Draco entered the common room.

"I wasn't hungry." Draco shrugged as he walked straight past his friends.

"Where are you going?" Pansy Parkinson pouted, clearly disappointed that Draco wasn't staying.

"Out." Draco replied, leaving the common room without saying another word.

Draco knew his friends wouldn't dream of questioning him any further, if he said he was going out then he was going out and that was the end of that. Because Draco was able to get away from his friends without having to find excuses it was decided years ago that Hermione would be the one to initiate their meetings. Since they'd started using the charm in third year Draco could count on one hand the number of times he hadn't been able to meet Hermione when she sent him a message. Hermione however often had trouble getting away from her friends as they always wanted to know where she was going and what she was up to, which was the reason why she was the person to set the meetings when she could get away.

Arriving at the room of requirement Draco paced in front of the wall until the door appeared in front of him. Quickly he darted into the room, shutting the door behind him and sealing the room. Draco paused when he entered the room, his eyes falling on a large bed in the corner that wasn't normally present. The room was normally a cosy room with a large sofa and roaring fire and while they were still present the room was slightly larger to accommodate the bed.

Turning his attention away from the bed Draco walked over to where Hermione was sitting on the sofa. The fact there was a bed in the room, probably conjured from the thoughts in Hermione's head, made Draco curious but yet again it was something he didn't want to push. Towards the end of the previous year their relationship had been getting more physical and while Draco really wanted to sleep with Hermione he wasn't going to initiate anything until he was sure she was ready for sex.

"Hi, gorgeous." Draco greeted Hermione with a kiss on the cheek as he settled down beside her. "What's wrong?" He asked when Hermione continued to just stare at the fire.

"Nothing." Hermione shook her head and refocused her attention on her boyfriend, smiling widely at him. "Hi."

Draco smiled back at Hermione, before leaning over and pressing his lips against hers. Hermione kissed Draco back, moaning slightly when his talented tongue invaded her mouth. After a few minutes the couple separated, both smiling widely.

"I've made a decision." Hermione announced, turning serious.

"What about?" Draco asked, his eyes automatically flicking to the bed in the corner.

"I wasn't talking about sex." Hermione chuckled, following Draco's eye line. "The bed was in the room when I entered. Although I have to admit I have been thinking about that as well lately."

"So if you're not talking about sex, what are you talking about?" Draco questioned. He had a good idea what exactly Hermione was talking about, but he wasn't sure if a decision so quick was good or bad.

"The end of the year." Hermione clarified. "I want to come with you."

Draco's face broke out into a wide smile as he looked at Hermione. "Are you really sure? It would mean leaving everything behind and I'm not sure if we'd ever be able to return."

"I want to be with you. Letting you go would be the worst thing I could do and it would be something I would regret forever." Hermione said. She hadn't taken the decision lightly but she knew she was making the right choice by going with Draco.

"I can't believe you would do this for me." Draco admitted. Despite trying to be optimistic he'd been convinced that Hermione would ultimately tell him she couldn't go with him.

"I'm doing it for us." Hermione smiled. "I may only be seventeen, but I know I want to be with you for the rest of my life."

"What about your parents and your friends?" Draco asked. He was thrilled Hermione was going with him, but he wanted her to be sure. The last thing he wanted was for her to regret the decision after they had left.

"I can send a letter to my parents explaining what I'm doing." Hermione said. "As for my friends, I'm going to miss them but I'd miss you more. You're more important to me than anything or anyone."

"You know the feeling's mutual, don't you?" Draco asked, cupping Hermione's face in his hand and running his thumb over her cheek. "You mean the world to me and I really didn't want to lose you."

Hermione smiled as she leant closer to Draco. "You'll never lose me." She whispered, before pressing her lips softly against his.

As they kissed Draco's hand slipped under Hermione's shirt and slowly began making its way up her torso. Hermione moaned quietly and arched into Draco's touch as his hand brushed over the lacy material of her bra. Hermione pressed herself closer to Draco and her own hands began to unbutton Draco's shirt.

By the time they parted for air, Draco's shirt was half open and a few of Hermione's buttons were also undone. Hermione looked at Draco for several minutes before standing up and grabbing his hand. Pulling Draco off the sofa, she led him over to the large bed in the corner. Stopping in front of the bed Hermione turned back to Draco and he could see the nervousness in her eyes.

"We don't have to do anything you're not ready for." Draco said. He didn't want Hermione doing anything just because she thought she should, he wanted her to really want to be with him in that way.

"I want this, Draco." Hermione replied, sounding very sure of herself despite her visible nerves.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, stepping forward and resting his hands on her hips. "I don't want you to regret this."

"I won't." Hermione reassured Draco with a smile. "I'm just nervous, I've never done this before."

"Neither have I." Draco chuckled. "But I'm sure we can learn together."

"I'm sure we can." Hermione smiled, unfastening the remaining buttons on Draco's shirt and pushing it off his shoulders.

Once Draco's shirt was off, he slowly unbuttoned Hermione's and removed her top. Hermione looked nervous standing there in her cream lacy bra and Draco had to stop her from covering herself with her hands.

"Don't." He said, grabbing her hands and pulling them down to her sides. "Don't hide, you're beautiful."

Hermione blushed at the compliment and she didn't try to cover herself up again. Instead she unzipped her skirt and let it pool around her feet. Stepping out of her skirt she pulled off her shoes and socks, before sitting on the edge of the bed wearing just her underwear. Draco had watched the show with dark eyes and once Hermione was sitting on the bed he removed his own shoes and socks, before removing his trousers.

As Draco pushed his trousers down his legs, Hermione's eyes fell to his boxers and the prominent bulge she could see. Several times when they had been making out she had felt Draco's erection pressed against her legs, but she'd never seen it and she was pretty nervous.

"Relax." Draco said as he climbed onto the bed and settled himself at the top of the bed. "Come here."

Hermione obeyed Draco and moved so she was settled next to him. Draco turned to face Hermione as he placed one hand on her bare stomach. Slowly his hand started exploring the soft skin, varying between travelling up towards her breasts and travelling down to brush against her hips.

"We can stop at any time." Draco whispered as he bent over to kiss Hermione. "I won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

"I know." Hermione answered, before recapturing Draco's lips.

For a while the couple were content to just kiss, but as they became more comfortable their hands started wandering. Draco waited until Hermione's hands were happily running over his torso before he ventured under Hermione's bra. Hermione gasped as Draco's fingers brushed over her nipple and she reached up and unfastened her bra. Draco quickly discarded the lacy garment and set about exploring Hermione's chest.

Once Hermione was topless things got heated pretty quickly and before long her knickers and Draco's boxers had also been removed. Lying totally naked the couple were happily kissing and caressing, building up to the moment they would be together.

"I need my wand." Hermione muttered as Draco's lips teased her breast.

"Why?" Draco asked, barely stopping his ministrations.

"Contraceptive charm." Hermione moaned, arching up against Draco.

"Do you know it?" Draco asked, sitting up slightly and fishing around on the floor until his fingers closed around a piece of wood.

"Yeah." Hermione nodded, taking her wand from Draco's hand and casting the spell. "I learnt it over the summer."

Once the spell was cast Hermione dropped the wooden stick back onto the floor and pulled Draco back down on top of her. Within seconds it was as though their interruption hadn't happened as they edged ever closer to making love.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, looking down at Hermione.

Hermione nodded as her hand reached in-between them and guided Draco towards her waiting centre. "Yes, I'm sure."

Draco bent down and connected his lips with Hermione's as he gently pushed inside her for the first time. Almost immediately Draco stilled, giving them both time to get used to the new sensation of being joined so intimately. When they were ready to continue Draco began to move and the young couple began making love for the first time.


	4. Chapter 4

Hermione stared at the book lying on the library table in front of her. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't muster any interest in her school work. Since she decided to go away with Draco, Hermione just didn't have the same motivation to work as hard. Of course she had to keep her marks up so no-one got suspicious, but the drive she normally exhibited when it came to homework was missing.

Closing her book, Hermione wondered if she should see if Draco was free. In the six weeks since it was decided she was leaving with Draco their meetings had increased significantly. The couple spent hours discussing their future and where they would go, but they also spent a significant amount of time in bed. Since their nervous first time the sex had only gotten better and the couple could happily spend hours cavorting in bed.

A glance at her watch showed it was pretty pointless to contact her boyfriend. Dinner was in just over an hour and her friends would be expecting her back in Gryffindor tower soon. Hermione's friends had been spending the afternoon having an emergency Quidditch practice. The previous weekend Slytherin and Ravenclaw had played in the first match and Slytherin had absolutely thrashed Ravenclaw. As captain of the Gryffindor team, Harry had been worried by how good the Slytherins were and he demanded the team train extra hard to make sure they beat Hufflepuff by the same large margin as their rivals the following weekend.

Despite spending all afternoon training Hermione was confident her friends would spend the evening discussing tactics, meaning she could sneak off to see Draco later on. Smiling to herself at the prospect of spending the evening with Draco, Hermione gathered up her books and packed her bag. As she stood up to return her borrowed books to the shelves, Hermione suddenly felt dizzy. Holding tightly onto the back of a chair she waited for the feeling to pass before picking up her bag and heading to return her books to their shelves.

Hermione still felt slightly woozy as she arrived at the shelves in question. Madam Pince was working nearby and Hermione smiled at the librarian as she started to return her books. Realising she had a book to return on one of the higher shelves, Hermione grabbed the ladders and started to climb the few steps. On her descent Hermione felt dizzy again and the next thing she knew she was on the floor with Madam Pince hovering over her.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Madam Pince asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened." Hermione replied, getting to her feet with the librarian's help.

"It looked like you fainted." Madam Pince replied. "You need to go to the hospital wing."

"I'm fine." Hermione insisted. "I don't need to see Madam Pomfrey."

"I insist." Madam Pince declared, picking up Hermione's bag from the floor. "Come on, I'm taking you to see the nurse."

Hermione didn't get another opportunity to protest as Madam Pince held onto her arm and began walking her to the hospital wing. Arriving at the hospital wing Madam Pince told Madam Pomfrey what had happened in the library. Madam Pomfrey immediately ushered Hermione onto a bed, while Madam Pince returned to the library.

"Has there been any more fainting incidents?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"This is the first, but I have felt faint a few times lately." Hermione admitted. "I think it's just the stress of school work. Exams are next year and a lot of this year's work counts towards our grades."

"Maybe." Madam Pomfrey muttered. "Have you been eating properly? When was the last time you ate today?"

"I had a pasty at lunch." Hermione answered.

"What about breakfast? Are you getting a good start to the day?" Madam Pomfrey inquired as she whipped out her wand and began casting spells around Hermione.

"I didn't have breakfast." Hermione said quietly.

"Why not?"

"I wasn't feeling well this morning."

Madam Pomfrey made a non-committal sound as she carried on casting her spells. After five minutes of spell casting she drew a blood sample and left Hermione alone while she went to analyse it. In the ten minutes she was left alone Hermione began to worry something was seriously wrong with her, and the grave expression on Madam Pomfrey's face when she returned did little to ease her worries.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. "Am I ill?"

"You're in perfect health." Madam Pomfrey answered. "You're just pregnant."

Hermione's mouth dropped open as she tried to comprehend what she was being told. She and Draco had always been so careful with the contraceptive charm so she had no idea how she had ended up pregnant.

"Are you sure?" Hermione whispered, not wanting to believe she and Draco had been so careless.

"I'm sure." Madam Pomfrey nodded. "You're a little over four weeks gone."

"Oh, god." Hermione pulled her knees up onto the bed and wrapped her arms around them as she began to cry softly.

"Stay here, I'll go and send for Dumbledore." Madam Pomfrey smiled sympathetically at the young witch.

"Please don't." Hermione cried. "I don't want anyone to know."

"I have to tell him, sweetheart." Madam Pomfrey said gently. "He's the headmaster, he needs to know."

Madam Pomfrey drew the curtains around the bed Hermione was sitting on before rushing off to inform the headmaster of the situation. Left alone again, Hermione curled up on the bed as she tried to come to terms with what was happening. The whole thing had come as a major shock and she honestly didn't know how to react. She'd be lying if she said she'd never thought of having children with Draco, but it was always something that she thought would happen years into the future, not while they were still at school.

For nearly half an hour Hermione lay on the hospital bed, until Madam Pomfrey returned with both Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall in tow. While Professor Dumbledore pulled up a chair beside the bed, Professor McGonagall perched on the bed next to Hermione.

"Madam Pomfrey informs me we have a slight situation here." Dumbledore started, unsure of how to broach the topic of teenage pregnancy with the one student he never thought would end up in a situation like this.

Hermione nodded in response, not knowing what the headmaster wanted her to say.

"Obviously we'll have to inform your parents of the situation." Dumbledore continued. "And we need to know if there's a second set of parents to inform."

Hermione felt a chill of terror run through her at the thought of Lucius knowing about her child. Draco had made it clear that Lucius wouldn't approve of their relationship so she hated to think what his reaction would be to a half-blood grandchild.

"We need to know who the father is." McGonagall said to Hermione.

Hermione shook her head. "No. You don't need to know." She knew there was no way anyone could find out Draco was the father of her child, and even if they could she wanted to tell Draco first.

"Hermione, we know the father is someone at school and we need to know his identity." McGonagall said as once again Hermione shook her head.

"Were you forced?" Dumbledore asked quietly. "Is that why you won't say?"

"He didn't force me." Hermione said, not wanting anyone to think anything untoward had happened to her. "I knew what I was doing, I wanted to be with him."

"Tell us who the father is, Hermione." McGonagall said once again. "We need to inform the boy's parents."

"I'm not telling you. It's private." Hermione insisted.

McGonagall opened her mouth to try and persuade Hermione to tell them the identity of the father but Dumbledore shook his head at his deputy head.

"I suggest we move this to my office." Dumbledore said as he stood up. "Madam Pomfrey, is Miss Granger okay to leave?"

"Yes, she's fine." Madam Pomfrey answered, before turning to Hermione. "Feel free to come and see me if you're feeling unwell. And if you can try and have something to eat on a morning, I know it's not always easy when you're feeling queasy but it'll help with feeling faint and the dizziness."

"I will, thank you." Hermione smiled at the medi-witch as she got off the bed and grabbed her bag.

Following Dumbledore and McGonagall from the hospital wing, Hermione failed to notice a smirking figure lurking in the shadows just outside the doors.

* * *

**…..**

* * *

"I think Hermione needs to come home with us." Hermione's father, Richard Granger announced.

After arriving in Dumbledore's office the headmaster had contacted her parents and arranged for them to floo to the school while McGonagall had arranged for Hermione to have a plate of dinner, since she was missing the meal. When her parents arrived and Dumbledore told them the situation they immediately started badgering Hermione for the identity of the father. Hermione still refused to name the father, but she knew that she would eventually tell her parents about Draco. There was also a discussion about Hermione's options regarding the baby but Hermione ended the discussion quickly when she announced she was keeping the baby.

"I quite agree." Jean Granger, Hermione's mother, agreed with her husband. "What sort of school are you running here, where a seventeen year old girl ends up pregnant."

"It's not Dumbledore's fault, mum." Hermione argued. "We must have forgotten the charm. It was an accident."

"Wait until I get my hands on the little brat who did this." Richard growled. "I swear he won't have the means to father another child if I get my way."

"Dad, it isn't his fault either. I've told you it was an accident." Hermione told her father.

"He still took advantage of you." Richard argued.

"He didn't take advantage of me." Hermione protested. "We knew what we were doing, we love each other."

"If you love him then why won't you tell us who he is?" Jean questioned.

"I want to tell him about the baby myself." Hermione explained.

"If you just give us a name we can send for him." McGonagall offered. "We promise you can still be the one to tell him what's going on."

"No, I'm not telling you who he is." Hermione shook her head.

The adults all shared a look as Hermione continued to refuse to name the father. They all knew the brunette witch was incredibly stubborn and it looked like she wasn't going to divulge the identity of the boy she was involved with.

"This is getting us nowhere." Richard sighed. "I think it's time we left and took Hermione back home."

"No." Hermione cried. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Hermione darling, I'm not sure it's practical for you to stay here." Jean said. "The baby will be due sometime in July and by the end of the school year, you'll be heavily pregnant."

"I know, but I want to stay." Hermione insisted.

She had no intention of going anywhere before she talked to Draco and informed him of the situation. She had no idea if a baby would change their plans, but first of all she had to tell him they were about to become parents. If he reacted badly Hermione might consider leaving, but in all honesty she couldn't see that happening. Draco would likely be shocked by the news but she was confident he would stand by her and the baby.

"I don't suppose we can force you to leave." Richard said, knowing his daughter wouldn't be persuaded to return home once her mind was made up to stay.

"No, we can't." Jean agreed. "But we want regular letters and keeping up to date with what's going on. You're to come home for the Christmas holidays and we can discuss things further. You might even consider telling us the identity of the father once you're away from school."

"I also want you to promise to get in touch if you want to come home." Richard added.

"I will." Hermione smiled at her parents. "Thank you for not forcing me to go home."

"We'd never force you to do anything, sweetheart." Jean said, pulling Hermione into a hug. "We just want you to know we're here for you."

"I know and I appreciate it." Hermione replied.

"If Hermione is staying at school maybe it's best to get things back to normal." Dumbledore said, not wanting to intrude on the family moment between mother and daughter but wanting to get the meeting back on track.

"Yes, maybe Hermione should be heading back to the common room." McGonagall suggested. "Dinner should be over now and we don't want people asking questions about her absence."

"That sounds like a splendid plan." Dumbledore said.

Hermione picked up her bag and said goodbye to her parents before leaving the headmaster's office. She figured her parents would stick around a bit longer as they discussed what was happening, but since Hermione wasn't revealing anything about Draco there was little point in her staying. Instead she would much rather drop her bag off in Gryffindor Tower and see if she could meet up with Draco. She needed to talk to him about the baby, preferably as soon as possible as they had a lot of decisions to make.

Arriving at Gryffindor Tower, Hermione gave The Fat Lady the password and entered the common room. The second she entered the room everyone went quiet and turned to stare at her. Hermione looked around the common room in bewilderment, wondering what was going on. Spotting Harry, Ron and Ginny sitting on the sofa, gaping at her in much the same way everyone else was, Hermione walked over to her friends.

"What's going on?"


	5. Chapter 5

Pansy Parkinson marched along the corridors as she headed to the hospital wing. She had a pounding headache and she was hoping Madam Pomfrey could give her something. If not she would have to have an early night and Pansy loathed to be missing from the common room when she could be trying to get close to Draco. Pansy had been after Draco for years and even though the blond had shown her no interest she wasn't about to give up.

Entering the hospital wing, Pansy was annoyed to find it deserted. One of the beds at the far side of the room had the curtains drawn round, but there was no sign of Madam Pomfrey. Pansy huffed and was just about to call for the medi-witch when McGonagall's voice stopped her.

"We need to know who the father is."

Pansy smirked and remained silent, hoping for more gossip. A student getting pregnant was major news and the Slytherin was eager to find out who. The presence of McGonagall indicated it might be a Gryffindor and if it was then the Slytherins would have fun gloating over a member of their rival house getting knocked up.

"No. You don't need to know."

Pansy cocked her head as the girl in question responded. The voice was very familiar, but at the minute she couldn't put a name to the voice. Luckily for Pansy, McGonagall's next words revealed the identity of the mystery girl.

"Hermione, we know the father is someone at school and we need to know his identity."

Pansy's mouth dropped open at the revelation of the girl sitting behind the curtain. Never in a million years would Pansy have guessed that the golden girl of Gryffindor would end up pregnant at school. The fact that it was Granger that was pregnant was even more delicious and Pansy eagerly listened as the conversation carried on, hoping for more juicy details.

Unfortunately for Pansy she didn't get much information as the Gryffindor was keeping tight lipped about the father. She did however find out that the whole thing was consensual and Hermione had willingly slept with the boy in question. At that piece of information Pansy's mind immediately went to her two best friends, Potter and Weasley. They were the only two boys Pansy reckoned would go anywhere near the stuffy Gryffindor witch.

Pansy was still standing in the middle of the hospital wing a few minutes later when Dumbledore announced they were heading to his office. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Pansy turned round and quickly fled out of the hospital wing. Knowing she wouldn't have time to get away from the hospital wing before Granger and the two professors emerged, Pansy hid in a nearby alcove. She'd barely retreated into the shadows when the doors to the infirmary opened and Dumbledore and McGonagall strode out with Granger trailing along behind them.

Pansy waited until the three of them were well out of sight before leaving her hiding place. Her headache totally forgotten she set off back to the dungeons, she couldn't wait to spread the news about Granger to her housemates. With any luck before the night was out the entire school would know just how loose the Gryffindor golden girl really was.

* * *

**…..**

* * *

Draco was sitting in the armchair in front of the fire in the Slytherin common room when Pansy flounced into the room, declaring she had big news. Draco paid the annoying witch no attention as he continued to stare into the flames.

"You'll never guess what I've just heard." Pansy crowed, making sure everyone's attention was on her. She pouted a bit when Draco failed to look up but she hoped her next announcement would grab the blond's attention.

"For Merlin's sake Pansy, just spit it out." Blaise Zabini snapped, having little patience for the witch's dramatics.

"Granger is knocked up." Pansy announced with a smirk.

Draco's head whipped up at Pansy's announcement and he stared at the raven haired witch. "What did you just say?" He asked.

"Granger's pregnant." Pansy said. "I was in the hospital wing and overheard her talking to Dumbledore and McGonagall."

"I didn't know she had it in her, I always thought she was frigid." Theo chuckled.

"Clearly someone's melted the ice queen." Blaise joked. "So who's the father, Potter or Weasley?" He asked Pansy.

"She wasn't saying, but it has to be one of those two losers." Pansy said. "No-one else would go anywhere near her."

"I don't know Pans, if I'd known she was so loose I would have had a go." Theo said.

"Me as well." Blaise remarked. "Granger's pretty fit for an uptight chick. If I thought for one minute I would have been able to get some action I would have been there in a heartbeat."

"You're quiet, Draco." Pansy said, turning to look at the blond. She'd expected Draco to be cracking jokes along with Blaise and Theo but he had returned to staring into the fire.

"I've got nothing to say." Draco replied through clenched teeth.

In reality he had plenty to say, but what he had to say would end up with everyone knowing the truth about him and Hermione. He was still trying to wrap his head around Hermione being pregnant but he was currently focusing all his energies on stopping himself from jumping up and hexing Blaise and Theo. Their crude cracks were infuriating and his instincts were telling him to defend the witch he loved, but his brain was telling him to remain calm. Attacking Blaise and Theo would only end up causing more problems for him and Hermione and from the sounds of things their problems had just grown significantly.

"Well I'm sure the rest of the school will have something to say." Pansy replied, slightly put out that Draco hadn't responded the way she had hoped to her gossip. "Its dinner time and I'm going to spread the happy news."

"This should be fun." Theo chuckled as him and Blaise stood up. "Come on, Draco we don't want to miss the action."

Draco seriously debated remaining behind, but his reaction was probably already slightly suspicious and he didn't want to act any more out of character. Plus with Pansy spreading the news, Hermione might need his support, if she was finished with Dumbledore and at dinner. Granted there was nothing he could do or say to help his girlfriend, but even a reassuring smile might help. Plus if Hermione was there and Pansy was spreading the news she might take his absence as a sign he was abandoning her, something he wouldn't dream of doing.

Reluctantly Draco followed the gossiping Slytherins to The Great Hall for dinner. Settling down in his seat Draco grabbed a plate and placed a few items on it. As he did so he scanned the Gryffindor table for any sign of his girlfriend. He easily found Potter, Weasley and the Weaselette but there was no sign of Hermione.

"I see the Gryffindor slapper isn't here." Pansy declared loudly. "She's probably too ashamed to face anyone."

Pansy's words attracted a few people's attention and a Ravenclaw on the next table leant over and asked what was going on. Pansy gladly filled her in on the gossip and within minutes the news had spread down the Ravenclaw table. From there the news spread to both the Hufflepuff's and the Gryffindor's and within fifteen minutes Hermione's pregnancy was the main topic of conversation.

Draco ignored the remarks going on at his table and instead chose to watch Hermione's friends. They were some of the last to receive the news and Draco watched as they reacted in disbelief. He could see Potter shaking his head, while the two Weasley's paled significantly. From the distance he was sitting at Draco couldn't hear their conversation, but for Hermione's sake he hoped it wasn't going anything like the ones he could hear nearby.

All across the room his girlfriend was being called every name under the sun and it was taking every ounce of his self-control not to stand up and announce to everyone that the baby was his. He wanted to hex every single person badmouthing Hermione, but his rational side told him to hold his tongue. If people couldn't know about them before they certainly couldn't know about them now, if his father ever found out about the baby Draco shuddered to think what he would do.

After nearly half an hour Draco couldn't stand the gossiping anymore. Telling his friends he wasn't feeling well he left them to their nastiness and hurried out of The Great Hall. Stalking down to the dungeons he finally let his frustrations emerge outside the common room. Growling angrily he lashed out, punching the wall and imagining it was the face of every person who had insulted Hermione. Draco punched the wall several times, before he regained control and looked down at his bloody knuckles. Entering the common room he headed off to the bedroom so he could fix his hands before he had to explain why he was punching walls.

* * *

**…..**

* * *

"Where's Hermione?" Ginny Weasley asked as she settled down at the dinner table next to her brother, Ron and her boyfriend, Harry. "She wasn't in her room, I checked before I came down."

"You know Hermione, she's probably in the library." Ron shrugged, loading his plate up with mountains of food.

"I guess." Ginny said. "She shouldn't work so hard, she's looking really pale lately."

"It's hard to tan when you spend your life with your nose stuck in a book." Harry commented.

"I think the pressure's starting to get to her. She tries so hard to be so perfect at everything, it's bound to be a strain." Ginny said as she filled her own plate, a tinge of jealously lacing her voice. In actual fact Ginny was very jealous of Hermione's ability to excel in practically everything she turned her hand to.

"What's going on over there?" Ron asked, interrupting Ginny and gesturing to the other side of the room.

Harry and Ginny looked at where Ron was watching to find a Ravenclaw girl gossiping to Pansy Parkinson. A few seconds later the Ravenclaw turned back to her own table and began talking excitedly to the people around her. In turn they then turned to their neighbours and began telling them the news.

"Ooh, it looks like juicy gossip." Ginny said, eager for the gossip to reach them.

"It's coming from a Slytherin, it'll be boring." Ron scoffed.

"I don't know Ron." Harry said thoughtfully. "Slytherins don't gossip about each other. If Parkinson is spreading the news it involves someone else."

As the news continued to spread Harry and Ron were unnerved to see several people looking in their direction. By the time the news was spreading up towards them both boys were nervous about what they were about to hear. It was looking increasingly like the gossip was about one of them, not that either of them could think of anything they had done to interest everyone so much. Eventually the news hit Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, who were sitting a few seats away from the trio.

"It looks like someone's been naughty." Parvati giggled.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked, desperate for the gossip.

"Hermione's expecting a sprog." Lavender declared, looking smug. She'd never liked Hermione and was thrilled the perfect student had messed up big time.

"That can't be true." Harry shook his head in disbelief, while Ron and Ginny both paled at the shocking news.

"It is." Lavender said. "Parkinson was in the hospital wing and heard Hermione talking to Dumbledore and McGonagall."

A quick glance at the Professor's table showed that the Headmaster and the Head of Gryffindor were both absent, adding credibility to the gossip. Also the fact that Hermione was nowhere in sight indicated that something was going on.

"Bloody hell." Ron exclaimed, finding his voice. "Who's the father?"

"Apparently she'd not saying." Parvati replied. "But the common consensus is it's one of you two."

"It's not me." Harry said quickly, not wanting Ginny to think he had cheated on her. "We're just friends."

"It's not me either." Ron said, although he sounded slightly aggrieved by the fact. "I've tried hard enough, but she keeps turning me down."

"So who is the father?" Ginny asked. "I didn't even know she was seeing anyone."

"Who says she was." Lavender shrugged. "All it takes is a quick shag to get pregnant."

"Yeah, maybe it was just a one-off." Parvati suggested.

"Hermione isn't the type to have a one night stand." Harry said, defending his friend in her absence.

"We can't be sure of that, Harry." Ginny told her boyfriend. "After all, we would have said that Hermione wasn't the type to get knocked up in school."

"I guess you're right." Harry conceded, knowing Ginny had a point. It was looking like they really didn't know Hermione very well at all.

For the rest of dinner conversation continued to revolve around Hermione and her shock pregnancy. The gossip continued once they were back in Gryffindor Tower and there was still no sign of the witch in question. Debates were raging on whether or not she would even return when the portrait door swung open and Hermione walked in. Everyone stopped their talking and stared at the brunette witch as she approached her friends.

"What's going on?"


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione's question hung in the air as she waited for her friends to speak to her. It was slightly unnerving to have everyone staring at her, but it was more unnerving to have her friends looking at her in the same bewildered way. Hermione couldn't help but wonder if they knew where she had been, but instantly dismissed the idea.

"Maybe it should be you telling us what's going on." Ginny said, speaking up as Harry and Ron didn't seem to know what to say.

"I don't understand." Hermione replied.

"We're all staring at you, because we're all in shock." Ginny answered.

"Yeah, it's not every day you discover your best friend is pregnant." Ron sneered.

Hermione gaped as she took in the fact the whole house knew of her pregnancy. Now the staring made sense, in all her years at school she had never known of a student getting pregnant and she knew it would be the subject of gossip. However, what she couldn't work out was how everyone knew and more importantly how many people knew.

"I take it from your silence that Parkinson was right." Ginny said. "You are pregnant, aren't you?"

"What does Pansy have to do with anything?" Hermione asked, avoiding directly answering Ginny's other question.

"She overheard you with Dumbledore and McGonagall in the hospital wing." Harry explained.

"And she couldn't wait to tell everyone and make sure we all know what a tart you are." Ron added, looking at Hermione in disgust.

Hermione didn't respond to Ron's insult, instead she was worrying about Draco. If Pansy knew and was spreading the news surely her boyfriend also had to know. Hermione was mad that she hadn't been the one to tell him and she was really worried over how he was reacting to the news. The news would have been shocking enough for her to tell him, but he really didn't deserve to find out through hurtful gossip.

"So who's the father?" Ginny asked.

"It's private." Hermione said quietly.

"She probably doesn't know." Lavender snorted from nearby. While the conversation had been between Hermione and her friends the whole common room was listening in.

"Just because I'm choosing not to tell doesn't mean I don't know." Hermione retorted, glaring at the other witch. "I know exactly who the father is."

"Let's guess, it was a one-off and now he's dumped you." Ginny remarked, smirking maliciously.

"It wasn't a one-off." Hermione replied, wishing she didn't feel the need to justify herself to her friends.

"Next you'll be telling us you're going out with this bloke." Ron snorted. "Come on Hermione, just tell the truth. You had a one night stand and got knocked up."

"That wasn't what happened." Hermione snarled. "I'm not some slapper that sleeps around."

"Your bun in the oven suggests otherwise." Lavender laughed, causing a few others to laugh along with her.

"I'm not like you, Lavender. I don't spread my legs for everyone. I've only ever been with one man, and he actually means something to me." Hermione snapped at the other witch.

"You've got a cheek, you bitch." Lavender sneered. "I might have had more than one bloke, but at least I'm not stupid enough to get pregnant."

"You're right Lavender. It was stupid for me to end up pregnant, but I won't have people insinuating I'm a tart." Hermione said, glaring around the room and daring anyone to say otherwise.

"But you are." Ron said, not afraid of Hermione's withering look.

"Ron, how can you say such a thing?" Hermione gasped, not expecting such a thing from her best friend. "You're supposed to be my friend."

"I am, but as your friend I'm telling you the truth." Ron replied. "You're only seventeen and you're pregnant. Portray it anyway you want, but the truth is you're a tart."

"Thank you for your opinion Ronald." Hermione snapped. "Do you two feel the same way?" She asked Harry and Ginny.

Ginny nodded in agreement with her brother but Harry shook his head slowly. However before either of them had a chance to voice their opinions Ron jumped back in.

"It doesn't mean I'm not still your friend Hermione. I just think you needed a friend to tell you how things are."

"With friends like you, who needs enemies?" Hermione muttered. "I know what everyone is going to think of me, but I expected some support from my friends."

"We will support you, Hermione." Harry said.

"But we're not going to lie to you." Ginny added. "Ron's right, you need to face up to the fact you're not perfect and you have no right to be so righteous."

"I've had enough of this." Hermione muttered. Pulling her wand out she sent her bag to her room before turning round and stalking towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Ron called out after Hermione. "Are you going to see the father?"

"I'm going to see McGonagall." Hermione lied. She was hoping to see Draco, but she wasn't going to tell her friends that. "She wanted to talk to me."

"She should have talked to your earlier and taught you the contraceptive charm." Lavender laughed. "Or better yet, taught you how to keep your legs closed."

Hermione ignored Lavender and rushed out of the common room before the tears started to fall. Hurrying around the corner, Hermione leant against the wall as she began to cry. She wasn't ready for everyone to know about her pregnancy and she was dreading the following day when she had to face everyone else. If the Gryffindors had been that hurtful she could only imagine how horrid the other houses would be.

Although what she was finding the hardest to cope with was the horrible way in which Ron and Ginny had treated her. Hermione had hoped her friends would stand by her but the venom from the two redheads had taken her by surprise. If Hermione hadn't know better she would have sworn the two redheads hated her and were happy she was in such a mess. Hermione was also disappointed in Harry, while he wasn't as vocal in his disgust as Ginny and Ron he still just sat there and let them call her names.

After five minutes Hermione managed to calm herself down. Pulling her sleeve back she pressed her fingers onto the silver bracelet she always wore and sent a message to Draco. A few seconds later the bracelet heated up in response and Hermione set off for the room of requirements. She just hoped her meeting with Draco would go better than the one with her friends.

* * *

...

* * *

Draco was already sitting in the room of requirements when he received the message from Hermione. Quickly sending his response, Draco waited for his girlfriend to show up.

Draco had retreated to the room of requirements in order to try and wrap his head around what was happening. After dinner he knew he wouldn't be able to cope with more of his friends comments so he had made sure he was long gone before dinner ended and the Slytherins returned to the dungeons. Apart from avoiding his friends, Draco was also trying to come to terms with the fact he was going to be a father. He was only sixteen and the prospect of having a tiny baby depending on him was truly terrifying.

Draco was jolted from his thoughts when the door opened and Hermione entered the room. One look at his girlfriend showed that she'd been through a lot in the last few hours, in fact she looked on the verge of tears. Draco jumped up and moved over to where Hermione was standing. Wrapping her in his arms Draco held Hermione tightly as she sobbed quietly into his chest.

After a few minutes Draco manoeuvred the pair of them over to the sofa. Sitting down Hermione remained curled up in Draco's arms and the blond stroked her hair comfortingly as he waited for her to calm down. Slowly Hermione's tears slowed and eventually she lifted her head and looked at Draco.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't." Draco said, wiping at the stray tears running down Hermione's cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"Don't I?" Hermione sighed. "I'm pregnant and you had to find out through mindless gossip."

"Firstly the pregnancy isn't all down to you, in case you didn't notice I played a significant part in creating our child." Draco said to Hermione. "And secondly I know you would have liked to tell me yourself, but Pansy is a bitch and she just couldn't resist spreading the news when she overheard you in the infirmary."

"What do you think of the fact I'm pregnant?" Hermione asked quietly. She'd noticed that he'd referred to the baby as their child, but she didn't want to get her hopes up that they would play happy families together.

"Honestly, I think I'm still in shock." Draco admitted. "Being a father as sixteen isn't something I ever thought would happen to me, but I want you to know that I'll never ever abandon you or the baby."

Hermione smiled up at Draco as a wave of relief rushed over her, it was good to know she wasn't alone in all this. "Actually you won't be a father until you're seventeen. I'm just over four weeks pregnant so the baby's due in July some time."

"What do you think about the baby?" Draco asked, wondering if Hermione was adjusting to the news any better than him.

"Like you, I'm still in shock." Hermione said. "But at the end of the day I'm carrying your child and there's a pretty big part of me that's thrilled."

"What about the rest of you?"

"The rest of me is terrified." Hermione admitted. "This is so big and it's not something I ever thought would happen to us, at least not for a few years. I'm also struggling to work out how I'm even pregnant, we're always so careful with the contraceptive charm."

"I can think of at least a dozen times we've nearly forgotten the charm, there's a strong possibility we have forgotten at one point and just not realised." Draco told his girlfriend. He couldn't remember one specific time when they had forgotten the charm, but their sex life was active enough that sometimes being careful wasn't the top thing on their agenda.

Hermione nodded, realising Draco was right and at one point they must have forgotten the charm. "Does this change our plans for the end of year?" She asked, voicing the concern that had just popped into her head.

"I think it makes it even more imperative that we leave." Draco said. "I daren't think what would happen if father found out about you and the baby. He would be furious to find me involved with a muggleborn but he would be ten times worse if he knew you were pregnant. Father would never allow the Malfoy line to be tainted by our child, and I'm seriously worried he could hurt you and the baby if he knows about you."

"By hurt, you mean kill don't you?" Hermione asked, her hand automatically flying to her stomach in a protective gesture.

"I would never let him hurt you, Hermione." Draco reassured Hermione. "But I do fear that if he knew about you he wouldn't be above disposing of you."

"Then we make sure he never finds out." Hermione said determinedly. "We'll have to be extra careful that no-one finds out you're the father and we'll still leave as planned."

"Have you told anyone about me being the father?" Draco asked. Pansy had said that Hermione refused to give his name in the hospital wing, but things might have changed later on.

"No, I'm not going to breathe a word to anyone here." Hermione replied. "But I am going to tell my parents over Christmas. They deserve to know the truth."

"That's a good idea, but you'll have to make sure they won't report back to Dumbledore."

"They won't. My parents aren't exactly Dumbledore's biggest fans." Hermione replied. "Several times they've expressed their concern over the way he runs things and the dangers that seem to be present every year. You know after I'd been petrified in second year they didn't want me to return, and they've already said I should go home now."

"Maybe you should think about it." Draco suggested. He didn't want Hermione to leave, but he also didn't want her facing the vicious name calling that would undoubtedly be heading her way.

"You want me to leave?" Hermione looked hurt by Draco's suggestion and she looked away from her boyfriend.

"No, I don't want you to leave." Draco said, gently turning Hermione's head so she was looking for him. "I just don't want you to suffer the abuse that will come your way. Dinner this evening was horrible and I don't want you hurt by the nasty things people are saying."

"It can't get much worse than what I've already experienced from my friends." Hermione whispered, fighting back tears as her friends words came back into her head.

"Why? What's happened?" Draco demanded. "I swear if Potter and Weasley have upset you, I'll the kill the pair of them."

"Draco, you can't react like that." Hermione warned her boyfriend. "If you're going to go around reacting badly to what people say about me someone is going to get suspicious. We have to keep this a secret, so you'll have to learn to control yourself."

"I know." Draco sighed. "I actually managed pretty well in the common room when Pansy broke the news and over dinner. I managed to stop myself from hexing people, when all I wanted to do was lash out and stop them all from slagging you off."

"Good. That's what you're going to have to do all year." Hermione said. "You can't run to my defence and I know that."

"That's why I think you should consider going home." Draco said. "Tonight was the tip of the iceberg and it's only going to get worse once you start showing."

"I know." Hermione nodded. "But I don't want to leave you. Hopefully once the novelty's worn off people will stop talking about me."

"And what about Potter and Weasley?" Draco questioned. He hadn't forgotten that Hermione hadn't told him what had happened with her friends. "I take it they weren't very supportive."

"Not exactly." Hermione shrugged, not wanting to tell Draco all the details in case he got mad and ended up confronting the pair. "But it was a shock for them, I'm sure they'll come round."

Draco looked sceptical, but he didn't challenge his girlfriend's assertion. If it made her feel better to think her friends would come round he wasn't going to upset her by voicing his own opinion that her friends were judgemental arseholes who wouldn't provide the support she was hoping for.

"I want you to promise me, that if it gets too much we can discuss you going home." Draco said.

"I promise." Hermione smiled softly. "But can we stop talking about other people and their reactions."

"Of course." Draco replied, instantly changing the subject back to the baby she was carrying.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N – Thanks for all the lovely reviews for this story. To be honest I was half expecting to get a lot of nasty reviews about the way Harry and Ron reacted to Hermione's news. I understand some people won't like the fact they aren't supporting her and are being quite nasty, but that was the way they had to react for the story to work like I wanted. If they had reacted differently, some changes would have had to be made as to how the plot unfolded and I would have ended up with a completely different story. For those who think Harry and Ron should be more supportive, I have got more stories in the pipeline where they do support Hermione and are there for her no matter what. **

**Anyway, enough of my ramblings and on with Unbreakable. Enjoy!**

* * *

Hermione stood in front of the bathroom mirror, giving herself a pep talk before venturing out of her dorm room and facing the rest of the school. The previous night when she had returned from spending time with Draco she spoke to no-one as she walked straight through the common room, ignoring the staring and muttering, and went directly to bed.

Hermione was hoping that her friends would have had time to adjust overnight and she was hoping they would be more supportive now. Hermione knew the rest of the school was going to be harsh on her and with Draco unable to stand up for her she really needed her friends. She just hoped her friends cared enough about her to support her through her time of need.

Deciding it was time to face the world, Hermione left the bathroom and returned to her dorm room. Lavender and Parvati were still in the room and Hermione ignored their giggling as she grabbed her bag and headed down into the common room. In the common room there were several students dotted about, but Hermione saw no sign of her friends. Spotting Neville Longbottom loitering beside the doorway, Hermione walked up to her friend. Hermione was aware that Neville hadn't joined in the hurtful gossip the previous evening and Hermione hoped that he wasn't going to start treating her any differently.

"Hi Neville. Are Harry and Ron still in bed?" She asked, plastering a brave smile on her face.

"I think they've already gone down to breakfast, Hermione." Neville admitted nervously.

At the news Hermione's face fell and her smile dropped from her lips. During the week the three friends always dined together and before now Harry and Ron had never left for breakfast without first talking to Hermione.

"Maybe they thought you were already there." He offered kindly when he spotted the hurt look on Hermione's face.

"Maybe." Hermione replied, replacing the brave smile as she turned and left Gryffindor Tower.

When she reached The Great Hall, Hermione paused in the hallway. She was seriously debating turning around and heading to the library, but she knew the longer she put off facing people the harder it would be. Plus Madam Pomfrey had told her to try eating a bit on a morning and Hermione wanted to stay healthy for the baby she was carrying.

Hermione was still standing outside The Great Hall when a group of Slytherins she didn't recognise ascended from the dungeons. Before she could move the Slytherins were upon her and they didn't bother to hide the fact they were talking about her. Hermione heard several vile names fall from their lips as they pushed past her and entered The Great Hall.

Hermione felt like bursting into tears at the cruel words but instead she took a deep breath and composed herself. Gathering up all her bravery Hermione walked into The Great Hall with her head held high. Ignoring the stares and giggles that accompanied her entrance Hermione made her way to where her friends were sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Hi, Hermione." Harry smiled warmly as his friend sat down next to him.

"Hi, Harry." Hermione smiled at the wizard before turning to face the two redheads sitting opposite. "Ron, Ginny."

"Ron and Ginny have something to say." Harry said, glaring at the duo opposite.

"Sorry, Hermione." Ron muttered, before shooting Harry a dirty look.

"Yeah, sorry." Ginny added, sounding as unapologetic as her brother before her.

Hermione graciously accepted the apologies, even though it was obvious that Harry had forced the two Weasley's into saying sorry. Hermione was disappointed her friends hadn't wanted to apologise of their own accord but she was pleased that Harry had finally stood up to her.

After the apologies an awkward silence reined between the friends. Hermione grabbed herself a cup of tea and a slice of toast to nibble on while she waited for her friends to start talking again. All around she could hear the whispers and occasionally caught words like slapper and tart, but she was doing her best to tune everyone out.

"Is that all you're having?" Harry asked as he watched Hermione take tiny bites of her toast.

"It's all I can manage." Hermione replied. The smell of all the food was beginning to make her queasy and it was taking a great effort for her to even keep the toast down.

"Being knocked up will do that for you." Lavender crowed as she and Parvati sat down next to the group of friends. "I hear morning sickness is a bitch."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't actually been sick." Hermione replied, throwing her half eaten toast back onto her plate. What little appetite she did have had disappeared with the arrival of Lavender and her malicious tongue.

"I'm sure you will." Lavender smirked. "Before long you'll be puking your guts up, just because you couldn't resist a quick shag with a boy who's not even interested in you."

"Shut up, Lavender." Hermione growled. "You know nothing about my situation."

"Well we all know that lover boy isn't standing by your side." Ron snorted, unable to keep his mouth shut.

"You don't know that, Ron." Hermione retorted, hurt that Ron was back to acting the way he had been the previous night.

"Of course we do." Ginny scoffed. "The whole school knows about your pregnancy and not one boy has owned up to shagging you. That has to tell you something, Hermione."

"Yeah, whoever he was he was using you. Once he got what he wanted he dropped you like a hot potato." Ron added.

"Leaving you with a little memento to remember him by." Lavender chuckled.

"You lot don't know what you're talking about, so I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself." Hermione snapped, grabbing her bag and standing up.

"We know you're a slapper who can't keep her knickers on." Lavender said, loud enough so that most of The Great Hall turned to stare.

Hermione felt the tears welling up in her eyes as several students laughed at Lavender's outburst. Turning away from her friends, especially Harry, who she noticed had failed to stick up for her again, she began making her way out of the room. As she did so Hermione noticed Draco sitting stoically at the Slytherin table. While his friends were laughing and undoubtedly adding their own insults he was sitting grinding his teeth and Hermione could tell her boyfriend was struggling to remain calm. Throwing him a reassuring smile, Hermione continued out of The Great Hall.

Once she was out of The Great Hall, Hermione ran to the nearest bathroom where she proceeded to be violently sick. Hermione doubted the sickness was caused by her pregnancy, instead she blamed the horrible way in which she had just being treated. Huddled in the bathroom stall, crying and being sick, Hermione seriously began to consider her parents plea for her to return home. At the minute she wanted to stick around for Draco, but if things continued on as they had she might have to reconsider her decision.

Once Hermione had finished throwing up she pulled herself together before leaving for her first class of the day, which was Charms. As she walked through the corridors Hermione could hear the students gossiping about her but she did her best to ignore them. The gossip was still present during Charms but Professor Flitwick did his best to minimise the talking.

Hermione had chosen to sit next to Harry in Charms, rather than take her usual seat next to Ron. While she was upset at Harry for not standing up for her at breakfast, she was furious at Ron for joining in with Lavender's maliciousness. Ron's behaviour had stung even more considering it came moments after his apology. Granted the apology was clearly forced but Hermione had hoped it would be the start of Ron supporting her.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, halfway through class.

"I'm fine." Hermione replied tightly.

"I'm sorry for what happened at breakfast." Harry said, sensing Hermione was mad at him.

"So am I." Hermione retorted. "Things aren't exactly easy for me right now and I had hoped to have the support of my friends."

Harry looked chastised and he didn't say another word for the rest of the lesson. In fact he didn't speak again for the rest of the morning, even though Hermione sat next to him in every lesson.

For Hermione the morning continued in the same vein, with everyone gossiping behind her back and sometimes to her face. Most of the Professors tried to clamp down on the gossip, but the only one that managed to completely silence the class was Professor McGonagall. Transfiguration was the last class before lunch and Hermione was disappointed when the bell rang to signal the end of lesson. For the first time that day she had been able to have a break from the gossiping and the name calling.

"Miss Granger, will you remain behind please." McGonagall called as the students packed up their belongings and rushed off to lunch.

McGonagall waited until everyone had left before shutting the door and walking over to where Hermione was still sitting in her seat.

"Are you alright?" McGonagall asked, perching on the desk beside Hermione's.

"I'm fine." Hermione replied.

"We're trying our best to clamp down on the gossip but it isn't easy I'm afraid." McGonagall sighed. "Although I can promise you there won't be a repeat of the breakfast incident with Miss Brown. A message will be going around that talk like that won't be tolerated in this school. Miss Brown has already earned herself a bucket load of detentions and anyone else who behaves the same will end up joining her."

"Please don't make a fuss." Hermione pleaded. "I don't want any more attention on me."

"I'm sorry Hermione, but we can't let behaviour like that go unpunished." McGonagall said gently. "Hopefully after a while people will find something new to gossip about."

"I hope so, because I don't think I can take much more of this." Hermione admitted quietly. McGonagall had always been her favourite Professor and she felt completely comfortable admitting to her head of house just how hard she was fining things.

"My door is always open whenever you need to talk." McGonagall said to the clearly upset young witch. "Even if you don't want to talk and just want some peace and quiet, feel free to come here."

"Could I stay here now?" Hermione questioned. "I don't really fancy going to lunch."

"Of course you can, go through to my office and I'll arrange for some lunch to be brought up to you."

Hermione stood up and smiled at the older witch. "Thank you Professor McGonagall."

"Anytime, Hermione." McGonagall smiled back before she left the room to get Hermione something to eat.

Hermione spent the rest of lunchtime in Professor McGonagall's office and she felt a lot happier as she set off for afternoon classes. Hermione's happiness was short lived as the second class of the afternoon was Potions with the Slytherins. Hermione knew most of the Slytherins would have something to say about her pregnancy and she was worried that Snape wouldn't say much about the abuse she was likely to receive.

Hermione's fears were quickly recognised as before class started Pansy called her a slag and Theo asked her what it took for her to put out. Hermione ignored both Slytherins and took a seat at the back of the class. Like she expected the cracks continued on well into Potions and the lesson was half over before Snape half-heartedly called for an end of the gossiping. Even that didn't stop the whispered remarks and dirty looks that were thrown her way.

The only bright spot in the whole lesson was the fact Hermione got to see Draco. His relief at seeing her in class was evident at the start and Hermione felt bad for not remembering about him at lunch time. She would have to speak to him later and let him know she would be spending the majority of her lunchtimes in McGonagall's office. Hermione also wanted to talk to him about his reactions to the gossip, while he hadn't said or done anything inappropriate Hermione could see his anger simmering under the surface and she was worried that one of his friends might pick up on it and work out what was going on.

Finally Potions came to an end and Hermione quickly darted out of the dungeons. She only had one more class to get through then it was the end of the day and she could get some peace and quiet. The day had actually been a lot more stressful than she had expected and all she could do was pray things got easier and in a few weeks she wouldn't still be the focus of all the gossip.


	8. Chapter 8

Draco sat in the corner of the Slytherin common room, trying to ignore his friend's laughter. As per usual his friends were gossiping about Hermione and as usual Draco was working overtime to keep himself calm. He had hoped that as time passed people would move on, but four weeks had passed since the news of Hermione's pregnancy broke and down in the dungeons the Slytherins were still crowing over the Gryffindor Princess getting knocked up.

"You've been awfully quiet about all this." Blaise said to the brooding blond.

"Yeah, you must have an opinion on Granger." Theo added.

"I don't." Draco shrugged as he stood up. "Granger and her love life doesn't interest me in the slightest. I've got more important things to worry about."

Draco hated dismissing Hermione like that, but in the past month he had found it the easiest way to avoid getting dragged into the conversation. Feigning a lack of interest in Hermione's situation had so far kept his friends at bay and on a whole they didn't bother him and they certainly weren't suspicious of him.

"Is Lucius still bugging you about your school work?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah." Draco nodded. "I'm actually going to the library for a bit."

Leaving the Slytherin common room behind Draco knew no-one would come looking for him in the library. Whenever he wanted some peace he made a big deal of going to the library and no-one bothered him. All his friends knew how demanding Lucius was when it came to Draco's schoolwork so when the blond had told his friends that his father was on his case lately they all believed him.

Instead of going to the library, where he was likely to encounter other gossiping students, Draco headed to the room of requirements. Even when he wasn't meeting Hermione, Draco preferred to be in their room as it was the only place in the castle that was private. Arriving outside the room of requirement Draco paced in front of the door until it appeared. Quickly he darted inside and shut the door behind him.

As soon as he entered the room Draco knew Hermione was present as her bag and cloak were strewn over one of the chairs by the fire. A quick look around revealed Hermione was curled up on the bed in the corner of the room. Draco hoped his girlfriend was just sleeping but as he removed his shoes and climbed onto the bed behind her, he heard her quiet sobs. Wordlessly Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione, comforting his upset girlfriend.

In the last month Draco had found Hermione crying like this on numerous occasions and every time he did it broke his heart a little. Hermione didn't deserve to be treated like she was been and Draco hated that he was powerless to stand up for her. However what he hated more was the fact it was her so called friends that were often the cause of her tears. Most of the school had a comment to make regarding Hermione, but his girlfriend could cope with that, what she was struggling with was the fact her friends were being so horrid to her.

From Draco's point of view Weasley's bile came from the fact Hermione had rejected him on numerous occasions and he was put out that she was involved with someone else. From what Draco had seen Potter didn't seem to be particularly vocal in his opinions of Hermione, but he was quite content to sit back and let his best friend and girlfriend have a go at Hermione. The Weaselette was also pretty vocal in her opinions and Draco was convinced the redhead was just jealous of Hermione. He'd seen glimpses of jealousy from the female Weasley in previous years, but now it was obvious for everyone to see.

In the last fortnight however things had gotten worse since Weasley had started dating Lavender Brown. Right from the beginning Lavender had been the most vocal Gryffindor and much to Draco's annoyance she was now in even closer proximity to Hermione. Several times Draco had witnessed Lavender being downright cruel to Hermione, and all the time Weasley just stood back and let his girlfriend attack his supposed best friend.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Draco asked quietly as he felt Hermione's sobbing subsiding.

Hermione shook her head slightly as she turned round in Draco's arms. "I can't do this anymore." She whispered.

"Do you think it's time we discussed you going home with your parents?" Draco questioned warily. He didn't want to upset Hermione and make her think he wanted rid of her, but he wasn't sure if he could take watching her suffer for much longer.

"I think it is." Hermione admitted.

"The Christmas break is in just over a week, can you stick it out until then?" Draco asked. "It would probably be easier if you just went home and don't return."

"That's what I was thinking." Hermione said as she sat up properly on the bed. "But how will that affect us leaving at the end of the year."

"We can still go, that won't change." Draco replied, sitting up next to Hermione and wrapping his arm around her. "But maybe we can get your parents on side, so we have some support."

"We?" Hermione questioned, raising her eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Yes, we." Draco nodded. "I was thinking I could come over one day for a visit and we could talk to your parents together and explain why we have to run."

"I'd like that. I wasn't exactly looking forward to leaving them without saying goodbye." Hermione said. "But can you get away for a visit during the holidays?"

"Yeah. Lucius couldn't care less what I do during the holidays as long as I'm there for dinner each night."

"We can arrange a day for you to visit before we break up and I can tell my parents to expect you." Hermione said.

"How do you think they'll react?" Draco asked nervously. Meeting Hermione's parents under normal circumstances would be nerve wracking enough but it was even worse now she was pregnant and they were planning on leaving.

"They've been pretty supportive of my pregnancy, and the fact you're standing by us will be a big plus for you." Hermione replied. "But they might still be a bit tricky, given the situation."

"However they react it'll be a damn sight better than how Lucius would react." Draco muttered. Another good reason for Hermione being at home was there was less chance of anyone discovering their relationship and word getting back to his father.

"Hopefully your father will never know about either me or the baby." Hermione said.

"I don't see any reason why he would find out if you're going home." Draco replied. "And then at the end of the year we'll be gone."

"I wish we could go now." Hermione sighed, snuggling into Draco's side. "I'm not looking forward to spending the rest of the year away from you."

"Nor am I." Draco replied. "But you leaving is for the best. You can't go on like this, all this stress isn't good for you or the baby."

"And maybe if I'm not here the gossip will die down and you'll stop punching the walls." Hermione remarked.

The previous week Hermione had entered the room of requirements just in time to witness Draco fixing his bloody hand. Hermione had initially thought that he'd lashed out at someone talking about her but he admitted he had hit a wall after Theo and Blaise had been making crude remarks about her. Hermione also got him to admit it wasn't the first time he had lashed out, and as she fixed him up she got him to promise he would try and not hit anymore walls.

"It's better to be punching walls than punching people." Draco pointed out. "Even though it's really tempting to punch certain people. Your two so called friends for a start."

"Leave Harry and Ron alone." Hermione warned. "They really aren't worth it."

Draco turned to look at Hermione in surprise. Throughout this whole thing she kept defending her friend's actions, this was the first time she had sounded angry with them.

"Do you mean that?" He asked.

Hermione nodded as she removed herself from Draco's embrace and got off the bed. "Yes. They've shown what they really think of me and after their recent actions, I can't think of them as friends anymore. I've shed my last tear over them."

"I guess their actions have made leaving easier on you." Draco said.

"They have." Hermione agreed. "I was initially sad to be leaving them behind, but now I can't wait to leave them in the past."

Draco watched his girlfriend in admiration as she searched through her bag and grabbed a book. He knew how much she had to be hurting as her friendship with the Gryffindor duo crumbled and she found out how little they really thought of her. As Hermione returned to the bed he could see the sadness in her eyes, but he could also see the determination in them. She may be hurting because of her friend's actions, but she certainly wasn't letting them get the better of her.

"What's that?" Draco asked, gesturing to the unfamiliar book in his girlfriend's hands. He knew it wasn't a school book and it didn't look like the sort of fiction books Hermione preferred.

"It's a magical pregnancy book." Hermione said, showing Draco the book. "Professor McGonagall gave it to me. She thought it might help to be prepared."

"That was nice of her." Draco smiled, pleased that at least someone was supporting Hermione.

"I'm going to stay here for a couple of hours, are you staying with me?" Hermione asked as she got comfortable on the large bed.

"Of course." Draco replied, settling down next to Hermione.

For the next hour Draco happily sat next to Hermione as she read her book. Occasionally she would read something interesting out to him, but on a whole they were content to just lie in silence. Draco was just beginning to drift off to sleep when Hermione nudged him in the ribs.

"Draco, I think we've got a problem."

"What?" Draco asked, suddenly alert.

"According to this book it's not recommended for witches to apparate in the latter stages of pregnancy." Hermione said, reading out the passage to her boyfriend.

"So we'll not apparate in the last few months of your pregnancy." Draco shrugged.

"What about leaving at the end of the year?" Hermione questioned. "We can't leave until school ends at the beginning of July and the baby is due sometime in July."

"Damn, I never thought." Draco cursed. "I can't leave until I'm seventeen, and that's not until June. Even that's too late for you to apparate."

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked, worried their plans were falling down around their ears. "It's going to be even harder to leave once I've had the baby."

"I know, let me think." Draco said as the couple lapsed into silence. "How about you go on ahead. You're not coming back to school in the New Year so you could go ahead and settle in."

"I don't know." Hermione said, sounding less than convinced. "Moving to a foreign country is a big thing and I don't know if I can do it alone and pregnant. I mean, how can I even afford it."

"I can give you all the money I've saved up over Christmas." Draco said. "And maybe your parents will be some help, maybe they can help us arrange everything."

"I can't take all your money, you'll need it." Hermione protested.

"Hermione I'm saving it so we can settle down somewhere, I'm not going to need it. Besides by the end of the year I'll have more money saved up."

"I guess we're going to have to hope my parents will help us." Hermione sighed. "Without their help I don't know if we can leave."

"It might help if we had a solid plan in place." Draco suggested. "If we could show them we have everything sorted and know what we're going to do, they might be more inclined to help us."

"I guess so." Hermione nodded. "But can we sort everything in just over a week?"

"There's only one way to find out." Draco shrugged. "Let's get planning."

Hermione grabbed her bag and pulled out some parchment and a quill as the couple settled down to plan their future. They had a lot to sort out in a week, but they were hopeful that by the time they spoke to Hermione's parents they could answer any questions they had about their future.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione stared out the window of the moving Hogwarts Express, watching the familiar scenery fly past her for the last time. Despite knowing she was making the best decision for her and her baby, Hermione felt sad to be leaving the school she had loved for so many years. She had so many great memories of Hogwarts and it felt strange to be leaving it behind.

No-one knew of her decision not to return to school and she didn't intend to tell anyone either. Her parents could send a letter to Dumbledore to inform him of her departure, but apart from that the only contact Hermione would have with anyone at school would be her letters to Draco. The couple had discussed what would happen in the New Year and they had decided that as long as Hermione didn't write too often Draco could pass the extra letters off as being from Narcissa.

Tearing her eyes from the scenery, Hermione grabbed her pregnancy book from her bag and curled up to read some more. She was travelling alone and she needed the distraction to stop her from overthinking. Not only did she have the meeting between her parents and Draco to think about, but she was also mourning the loss of her friendship with Harry and Ron, not that the boys had even acknowledged her absence from their lives this past week and a half.

Since her discussion with Draco when it was decided she wasn't returning after the Christmas break, Hermione retreated into herself and didn't interact with anyone but the Professors and Draco. She attended classes, but didn't speak up or answer questions unless specifically asked. She ate a small breakfast in The Great Hall, lunchtimes were spent in McGonagall's office and her dinner was either a quick visit to The Great Hall or she got one of the elves to bring her something in the room of requirements. Hermione spent every evening in the room of requirements, sometimes alone and sometimes with Draco, and she only left when it was time to go to bed for the night. Despite her absences from Gryffindor Tower her friends hadn't tried to talk to her about it, all she got from them was sly and bitchy comments from Ron, Ginny and Lavender and silence from Harry.

Hermione was jolted back to reality when the compartment door suddenly opened and Luna Lovegood appeared in the doorway. Hermione had barely seen Luna since the end of The D.A the previous year, but she hadn't heard the blonde Ravenclaw throwing any insults her way since the news of her pregnancy broke. Not that Hermione thought that Luna would be the type to judge her, she always seemed so nice and respectful towards everyone.

"Can I join you?" Luna asked, unsurely.

"If you don't mind sitting with the school pariah." Hermione replied.

"I don't pay any attention to what the gossips say." Luna commented as she sat down opposite Hermione. "But I'm sorry everyone is being so nasty to you, you don't deserve it."

"Thank you Luna." Hermione smiled sadly. If only one of her close friends had been so understanding she might not be leaving Hogwarts and not coming back.

"People can be so cruel at times." Luna sighed. "You might be young but I'm sure you'll make a great mum."

"I hope so." Hermione said, wishing she'd spoken to Luna earlier in the year.

"I know so." Luna said confidently. "So, when's the baby due?"

"July some time. My mum's organised for me to go to the doctor's before Christmas so I should know for sure then, but Madam Pomfrey reckons it'll be towards the end of the month." Hermione replied.

"That's not long after school ends, you'll be bursting by the end of the year." Luna smiled, letting Hermione know she wasn't being nasty.

"Actually I'm not coming back." Hermione said. She hadn't planned on telling Luna about her plans but the blonde girl was surprisingly easy to talk to.

"That's a shame." Luna said, sounding genuinely disappointed. "I hope you're not letting the negative people drive you away."

"It's just not worth the hassle, Luna." Hermione replied. "I would rather be at home with my parents, at least that way I'll not be suffering abuse every day."

"What do your friends think about you leaving?" Luna asked. "I bet they're sad you're going."

"They don't know." Hermione snorted. "They're the main reason I'm going, I've discovered that they weren't really my friends. Out of everyone some of the nastiest comments have come from them."

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I always thought Harry and Ron were good people." Luna said.

"It doesn't matter." Hermione shrugged, not wanting to talk about her former friends. "What matters now is the future, and I know I'll be happy without them in my life."

Luna smiled at Hermione's positivity, for weeks she'd watched the brunette witch hide away and flit around the castle like a ghost so it was nice to see some of her spark returning.

"We'll have to keep in touch." Luna said. "I'd like to hear about your new life with the baby."

"I'm sure I can send you an owl or two." Hermione smiled.

"I'd like that." Luna smiled back as the two girls lapsed into comfortable silence.

Luna travelled with Hermione for the rest of the journey and when the train pulled into Kings Cross Station the two girls vowed to keep in touch before going their separate ways. Stepping off the train, Hermione spotted Draco a few metres away with his mother. Giving her boyfriend a secretive smile she set off in search of her parents.

Hermione found her parents standing next to Molly Weasley. As she arrived at her parent's side they both greeted her with a hug, while the usually friendly Molly shot Hermione a disgusted look and edged further away from the Grangers. Neither Hermione nor her parents missed the look from the redheaded witch. While Hermione turned her head away from the witch that had always been so kind to her, Hermione's father gathered her bag and trunk while Hermione's mother put her arm around her daughter.

"Let's get you home." Jean said to Hermione. "You must be tired."

"I am a bit." Hermione said as her parents led her away from where Molly was still standing.

Just before leaving the platform Hermione took one last glance over her shoulder. Harry, Ron and Ginny had all arrived at Molly's side and from the way they were looking in her direction she guessed they were talking about her. Shaking her head sadly, Hermione followed her parents back into the muggle world, leaving her former friends behind her.

* * *

**...**

* * *

After settling back in at home, Hermione settled down in the front room with her parents. She knew her parents were eager to check up on her and make sure she was coping okay and there were several things she needed to discuss with them.

"So, how have you been?" Jean asked, handing Hermione a cup of tea and sitting down on the sofa next to her daughter.

"I've been okay, but I've made a decision." Hermione said. "I want to come home. I don't want to go back to Hogwarts."

"What brought about this change of heart?" Richard asked his daughter. "I mean, I'm pleased you're coming home, but you were determined to stay a few weeks ago."

"Things have changed since then." Hermione sighed, thinking about the torrent of abuse she had suffered over the past few weeks.

"What?" Richard asked, scrutinising Hermione. "Is it anything to do with the father?"

"No. The father's been great, but I'll get to him in a moment." Hermione replied. "It's everyone else that's the problem."

"Everyone knows?" Jean gasped, imagining the backlash her daughter would have received as the news spread. "How?"

"One of the girls in my year overheard me with Dumbledore and McGonagall in the hospital wing. By the time I left you in Dumbledore's office and went back to the common room everyone knew." Hermione explained.

"I take it the reaction was bad." Richard commented.

"Very." Hermione kept her answer simple, not wanting to go into the horrid details with her parents.

"But at least you had Harry and Ron to support you, didn't you?" Jean asked. Suddenly she was unsure as she thought back to the fact Hermione wasn't with her friends at the station, not to mention the dirty look Molly Weasley threw Hermione's way.

"Actually I didn't." Hermione sighed. "Ron and Ginny were both pretty nasty and Harry just kept out of things. I haven't actually spoke to any of them for over a week."

"And they call themselves friends, they ought to be ashamed of themselves." Richard snarled, angry that his daughter had been treated so badly by two people he knew she cared deeply about. "I have a good mind to go and see Arthur and Molly and tell them what despicable children they have."

"Dad, don't." Hermione said. "Harry and Ron aren't important. I won't be seeing them again, they're not part of my future."

"Will there be any specific boy in your future?" Jean asked. "You mentioned the father earlier, are you finally going to tell us about him."

"Yes, I am." Hermione smiled, feeling instantly happier at the mention of Draco. "I was always going to tell you, just not at school where Dumbledore was."

"Why didn't you want Professor Dumbledore to know?" Richard asked suspiciously. "I thought you trusted the old man."

"I do, but as Headmaster Dumbledore would have been obliged to tell the father's family." Hermione explained.

"Why is that a problem?" Jean asked.

"The father is a pureblood wizard and his father wouldn't approve of him being involved with a muggleborn." Hermione said. She'd already explained certain magical viewpoints to her parent's years ago so she knew they would understand what she was telling them.

"Disapproval is no reason not to tell his parents." Richard pointed out. "There has to be more to this."

"There is." Hermione nodded. "My boyfriend's father is a follower of Lord Voldemort, he's a Death Eater. They're particularly hateful towards muggleborns and his father is one of the worst. If he knew about me and the baby it could be dangerous for us."

"He would hurt you?" Jean gasped, worried for her daughter's safety.

"Yes. He wouldn't stand for his family line being polluted by muggles." Hermione answered. "That's why we needed to keep it a secret, it's important that Lucius doesn't find out about us."

"I notice you called this boy your boyfriend, does this mean he's standing by you?" Jean asked.

"Yes he is." Hermione answered. "Draco and I love each other and we're staying together. In fact Draco wants to come and meet you over the holidays."

"That's a good idea." Richard nodded. "I'd like to meet the little punk that's gotten you in the family way."

"Dad, it's not his fault. We both messed up, but we're facing the consequences together. We might be young but we're going to raise this baby together and be a family." Hermione said. "Please just give Draco a chance to show you how much I mean to him."

"Of course we'll give him a chance." Jean said. "We just want you to be happy and if this boy makes you happy then we'll support you. Won't we, Richard?"

"Of course." Richard nodded and smiled at Hermione. "We'll give him a chance, but if he loves you as much as you obviously love him, then I see no problems with the pair of you being together."

"Thank you dad." Hermione jumped up and gave her father a hug, before returning to her seat next to her mother.

"So when are we expecting this boy?" Jean asked.

"His name is Draco, mum." Hermione replied. "And as long as it's okay he was going to come over the day before Christmas Eve."

"That's fine." Richard nodded, knowing he and his wife were free that day as they had booked the entire holidays off work so they could spend time with Hermione.

"Great, I'll let him know." Hermione beamed, sending a message via her bracelet.

Hermione and Draco had discussed it and she was to send a message via her bracelet if the twenty third was alright for him to visit. If it hadn't been alright she wouldn't have sent the message and Draco would have sent her an owl the following day so they could arrange everything. A few minutes after sending the message Hermione received a response from Draco, letting her know that he'd gotten her message and things would go ahead as they had planned.

After sorting the visit with Draco, Hermione settled down with her parents to finish catching up. While the baby and Draco were mentioned several times, Hermione never mentioned their plans to leave the country. She'd already decided she wanted to broach the subject with Draco by her side so they could both explain why it was the safest option for everyone involved.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione double checked her reflection one final time before grabbing her jacket and leaving her bedroom. Heading downstairs she found her parent's preparing for Draco's visit. Hermione was going to meet her boyfriend in a nearby café, before bringing him home to meet her parents.

"I'm off." Hermione announced as she entered the front room. "I'll not be long, and please remember you promised to give Draco a chance. Don't be too hard on him."

"We will give him a chance, don't worry." Jean reassured her daughter as she gave her a peck on the cheek. "Now hurry up and get going so you can get back here."

"Dad, you won't be too bad will you?" Hermione asked, turning to her father. She knew out of both her parents her father was the one most likely to give Draco a hard time.

"No, I promise to give the boy a chance." Richard said to his daughter. "But be warned, if I think for one minute he's just using you, I'll come down on him like a ton of bricks."

"You don't have to worry about that, Draco isn't using me." Hermione said as she said goodbye to her parents and hurried out of the front door.

The café she was meeting Draco in wasn't far from her house and Hermione arrived several minutes before she was due to meet her boyfriend. Hermione was just about to enter the café and grab a warm drink when she spotted a familiar figure walking slowly down the street. Grinning to herself she rushed forward to meet Draco before he even had a chance to spot the café.

"Hello." Hermione smiled, launching herself at Draco.

Draco wrapped his arms tightly around Hermione and gave his girlfriend a long hug. "Hey, I've missed you."

"It's only been a few days." Hermione pointed out as she stepped out of Draco's arms and fell into step beside him. "It'll be worse next year."

"Don't remind me, I'm dreading going back to school without you." Draco groaned as they began to slowly walk towards Hermione's house.

"We'll not think about that today." Hermione said, not wanting to think of the long separation that awaited the couple in the New Year. "Today we have my parents to worry about."

"Do I have to worry about them?" Draco questioned. "Is your father going to kill me?"

"Of course not." Hermione chuckled at Draco's obvious worry. "They've promised to give you a chance. But I can tell you now they're both really impressed that you're not abandoning me and the baby."

"I'd never do that." Draco replied. He knew a lot of sixteen year olds in his position would have fled at the news of their girlfriend being pregnant, but he would never dream of abandoning his girlfriend and child.

"I know you wouldn't." Hermione said, snuggling happily into Draco's side as they continued their walk back to her house.

A few minutes later the couple arrived at Hermione's house. Hermione led Draco up the driveway and let them into the front hallway. Hanging their jackets up she took hold of Draco's hand and led him into the front room where she suspected her parents would be waiting. Sure enough when they entered the room Richard and Jean were standing in front of the fireplace, waiting to meet their daughter's boyfriend.

"Mum, Dad, this is Draco." Hermione said, doing the introductions. "Draco this is my mum and dad, Richard and Jean Granger."

"It's nice to meet you, Draco." Jean said, smiling at the clearly nervous young man.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs Granger." Draco smiled politely at Hermione's mother before turning to her father. "You too, Sir."

Richard looked impressed with Draco's manners as he shook the hand of his daughter's boyfriend. "It's good to meet you, Draco. Please take a seat."

Hermione pulled Draco down on the largest sofa, while her parents settled down on the smaller one. For a few minutes there was silence in the room as Richard and Jean checked out the boy who had gotten their little girl pregnant. Draco was visibly nervous at the proceedings, but they had both noticed that he had been holding onto Hermione's hand since entering the room and he was still sitting with her hand encased in his. Jean smiled as she watched the tender way his thumb drew patterns on Hermione's hand, it was a pure instinctive gesture and she was pretty sure the blond didn't even realise he was doing it.

"I guess it's best to delve straight into the heart of the matter." Richard announced. "What are you intentions towards my daughter?" He asked, watching Draco closely to see if what he would say was genuine or if he was playing them for fools.

"I love her." Draco replied, doing as Hermione's father had suggested and getting straight to the heart of the matter. "I'm planning on supporting Hermione and the baby. You don't have to worry about me running out on them as that will never happen. Your daughter is my world and I would never do anything to lose her."

"It's good to know you're not abandoning her." Richard nodded, deciding the blond was genuine in his affections for Hermione. "At least someone in her life is standing by her."

"Dad, we've been over this, Harry and Ron are insignificant." Hermione grumbled. Her friend's abandonment had become a sore point with her father and he would use any excuse to grumble about the duo. "I don't want friends like them."

"I'm just saying, it's a disgrace the way they were treating you." Richard said sharply. "I honestly though they were good lads, I don't know where their attitude has come from. I honestly thought they would support you whatever happened, after all you've supported them plenty of times in the past."

"I don't know about Potter, but Weasley's just jealous." Draco piped up, unable to keep his mouth shut regarding his girlfriends supposed best friends.

"Why is Ron jealous?" Jean asked.

"He's been trying it on with Hermione and he doesn't like it that she keeps turning him down." Draco explained. "My guess is he's not bothered that she's pregnant, he's just put out that she wouldn't sleep with him but she would get involved with someone else."

"Exactly how many times have you had to turn Ron down?" Richard asked his daughter, not at all impressed that Ron seemed unable to take no for an answer.

"I don't know, a few." Hermione shrugged as she glared at Draco. She knew her boyfriend was mad at Harry and Ron for the way they had been treating her but in her opinion there was no need to bring up Ron's repeated come-on's.

"Perhaps we should get back to the point in hand." Jean said, sensing the conversation was going a bit off topic.

"Yes, indeed." Richard nodded, regaining his focus. He could ask more about Ron later on but for now it was time to concentrate on Hermione and the baby she was carrying. "Hermione mentioned your father would disapprove of your relationship with her." He said, addressing Draco again.

"He would." Draco replied solemnly. "I was brought up to believe that muggleborns were scum and that they didn't deserve their place in the wizarding world. Obviously I don't believe that, but my father does. He's a big believer that the Malfoy family line should remain pure, he would react very badly to the news Hermione is carrying my child."

"Hermione indicated she could be in danger if he found out, is that true?" Jean asked, hoping the young blond would dismiss her fears.

"I'm afraid so." Draco told Hermione's mother. "Father wouldn't think twice about getting rid of Hermione and the baby."

"Getting rid? Do you mean kill?" Jean gasped.

Draco nodded and held tighter onto Hermione's hand. "If there was no other way to get her out of my life, then yes I believe father would kill her."

"What sort of monster is he?" Richard questioned, looking disgusted. "No offence meant Draco, but he sounds vile."

"I quite agree Mr Granger." Draco said, shocking both of Hermione's parents with his admission. "My father is a horrible man, who cares for no-one but himself. He married my mother with the sole intention of producing an heir to carry on the family name. He cares nothing for mother and I, we're merely assets to help him look good and keep up his reputation as a solid family man."

"If things are so bad, how can you possibly hope to support Hermione and the baby?" Richard asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased you're sticking by her but I don't want my daughter and grandchild in any danger."

"I won't let anything happen to either of them." Draco vowed. "I love Hermione and the baby and would rather die than let them be hurt."

"Although this brings us perfectly onto the other matter we wish to discuss with you." Hermione said. "How we're going to avoid Lucius from finding out about us."

"And how is that?" Jean asked. "He sounds like a pretty determined man and I can't see him letting his son walk away from his family."

"He won't." Draco agreed. "That's why we're planning on leaving the country. We need to get far away from Lucius so he can't find us."

"You're leaving?" Jean questioned, unable to believe her ears. "Hermione, please say you're not going."

"I'm sorry mum, I am." Hermione replied. "It's the only way Draco and I can be safe and raise our child together. We were actually hoping you two would help us and be involved in our lives."

"Until Voldemort is defeated and my father is hopefully imprisoned I can't even tell my mother of the plans. So until then you're all the family Hermione and our child will have." Draco added, hoping he wasn't pushing too hard with the emotional blackmail.

"Please, I don't want to be alone in this." Hermione pleaded with her parents. "Draco's stuck at school until the end of the year and I have to be in Australia before then."

"Australia? You've already picked somewhere." Richard said, shocked the young couple seemed so sorted.

"Yes, it's far enough away so that Voldemort's influence isn't really an issue and as far as I know father doesn't have any contacts or associates in Australia." Draco replied.

"How are you going to live?" Jean asked. "Raising a child isn't cheap, and without finishing your education jobs will be hard to come by."

"I've got some savings that will set us up." Draco answered. "And I know finding a job won't be easy, but I'm sure I can get one."

"What's the rush?" Richard asked. "I can understand you wanting to be away from your father, but why not wait until after you've finished your final year of schooling. Hermione can stay here and when you've finished next year a job will be easier to come by."

"Remember when I told you about Lucius being a follower of Voldemort?" Hermione questioned her parents, who both nodded. "Well in the summer Draco overheard his father and aunt talking about him joining this coming summer, once he's seventeen."

"Can't you refuse to join?" Jean asked. She knew enough from Hermione to know that Voldemort was a dark wizard and his supporters were bad people.

"You don't refuse The Dark Lord." Draco stated. "You also don't refuse my father. If I did refuse they'd simply force me to take the mark and I'm terrified of what else they might force me to do."

"We can't let that happen." Hermione said, squeezing Draco's hand reassuringly. "We have to go before they force Draco into joining the Death Eaters."

"I guess I understand where you're coming from, but it's a big decision." Richard said. "I don't want the pair of you rushing into something and ending up stuck in an even worse situation."

"We've been discussing this and we have everything worked out." Hermione told her parents. "We can tell you the entire plan and answer any of your concerns."

"That sounds like a plan." Jean said. "But first I think we could all do with a cuppa. Richard, come and help me with the tea."

Jean gestured for her husband to join her and the two adults left the room. Instead of going directly for the tea the couple paused in the hallway and watched the two teenagers through the crack in the doorway. While they couldn't hear what was being said they noticed the way they moved closer to one another and the way Draco put his arm protectively around Hermione. When Draco placed a kiss on Hermione's forehead as she snuggled into him the two adults shared a tender smile.

"They're so lovely together." Jean whispered as the two adults headed off to the kitchen.

"They are." Richard agreed. "And I have to admit, he truly loves Hermione."

"Does that mean we're going to support them leaving?" Jean asked as they made the tea.

"We'll see." Richard replied. He hadn't yet made a decision regarding the young couple's idea to run but he was willing to see what sort of plans they had made.

After making the tea the Grangers returned to the front room where Hermione and Draco spent the next few hours going over the details of their escape plan. Richard was rather impressed by the teenager's forward thinking and skilful planning, but he asked for a few days to think things over before he offered his opinion.

Before leaving the Grangers, Draco agreed to come back between Christmas and New Year. By then Richard would have made a decision on whether or not to help the young couple, plus Hermione would have visited the doctor to check everything was alright with the baby.

After giving Hermione her Christmas present Draco left the warm cosy house of his girlfriend to return to his family's dark and dreary Manor house. After meeting the Granger's he really hoped they would support him and Hermione and stay a part in their lives. They were clearly loving and supportive parents and he knew his child would be lucky to have the couple as grandparents.


	11. Chapter 11

Walking up the Granger's driveway, Draco smiled happily. It had only been six days since he had last seen Hermione, but it felt like an eternity. Draco figured that part of the reason he was missing Hermione more than he usually would was the fact he knew he wouldn't see her again for months after today. The fact that she was pregnant and he knew he wouldn't be there for her the way he wanted to be, was something else that made their impending separation even harder to bare.

Brushing aside the depressing thoughts of leaving Hermione, Draco knocked on the Granger's front door. The door was opened by Hermione's mother and Draco was relieved when the older woman smiled warmly at him and ushered him into the house.

"Go on through, Hermione's in the front room." Jean said, hanging Draco's jacket up in the hallway. "Richard and I will join you in a minute."

Draco smiled at Hermione's mother and followed her instructions to head into the front room. Hermione was lying on the sofa when Draco entered the room and the second she saw her boyfriend she put down the book she was reading and sat up.

"Hi." She smiled as Draco sat down beside her. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too." Draco replied, giving his girlfriend a hug. "Did you like your Christmas present?" He asked as they separated.

Hermione nodded and smiled as her hand automatically fell to the silver necklace hanging around her neck. The necklace was a glass heart with a red H and a green D carved inside the heart. Hermione knew the gift must have cost her boyfriend a small fortune, but it was the nicest gift she had ever received.

"I love it." Hermione smiled, giving Draco a long kiss. "And I love you."

I love you too." Draco replied as Hermione threw a cushion on his knee and settled back down, her head resting on his lap.

"Did you have any trouble getting away?" Hermione asked.

"No, it was easy to just say I was going out for a while." Draco replied.

"I'm just pleased you're here." Hermione said. "I'm going to miss you so much when you return to school."

"The feeling's mutual, I would much rather be staying here with you." Draco said.

"It's only a few months, then we'll be together again." Hermione said, trying to remain positive and not dwell on their imminent separation.

"I guess so. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end when we're together all the time." Draco replied, following Hermione's lead and seeing the positive in the situation.

"It will." Hermione smiled. "The three of us will be the perfect little family."

"Speaking of which, how are you?" Draco asked. "How did your visit to the doctor go?"

"Fine. She said everything looked good and she booked me in at the hospital for just after the New Year. At the hospital they'll be able to give me a date for when the baby's due."

Draco sighed as he ran one hand through Hermione's hair while the other one rested on her still flat stomach. "I'm sorry, I'm not going to be here for you. I'm going to miss so much when I should be at your side."

"You'll be here when it matters. When I have the baby and afterwards, that's when I'm really going to need you." Hermione replied, smiling reassuringly up at Draco.

"And I promise, I'll always be there for you and the baby." Draco vowed.

"That's reassuring to hear." Richard announced as he and Jean entered the room. "That tells me we've made the right decision in deciding to help you get away."

"Really?" Hermione beamed, sitting up. "You're really going to help us leave at the end of the year?"

"Yes." Jean nodded as the two adults settled down on the sofa opposite the young couple. "It was fairly obvious from our discussion last week that you're both determined to leave. We don't want to lose our daughter and grandchild and we don't want the three of you facing danger if you stay."

"Thank you so much." Draco gratefully told the parents of his girlfriend. "It means so much that you're helping us."

"We're helping you, but we're also doing it on our conditions." Richard cautioned before the two teenagers got carried away.

"What conditions are these?" Hermione asked, hoping her parents weren't going to complicate matters.

"First of all your mother and I will accompany you to Australia." Richard began. "We'll travel the muggle way, we'll help find you somewhere to live and we'll stay with you until after the baby is born."

"I have no problem with that." Hermione said. "In fact I rather like that idea."

"So do I." Draco agreed. "I'm pleased Hermione won't be out there on her own."

"Good." Richard nodded. "The next thing to discuss is how Draco is going to get to Australia."

"We explained that, dad. He's going to apparate." Hermione said, reminding her father of the previous week's conversation.

"But didn't you say apparating long distances took its toll, especially on inexperienced wizards, and the journey would have to be made in stages." Jean said. "And it would probably take about a week to travel from Hogwarts to Australia."

"Yes, we did." Hermione replied, still not getting what the problem was. It might take Draco longer to get to her than she would like, but the important thing was that he did get to her.

While Hermione failed to grasp her parents point Draco had immediately spotted the problem with their original plan. At the time of making the plan the couple were planning on travelling together, so the extra-long journey wasn't a problem. However with the change in situations it wasn't really ideal to be traveling for so long.

"If I apparate I might miss the birth of the baby." Draco told Hermione. "I'd never thought of that before."

"Obviously until Hermione has her first scan we can't be sure of the date the baby is due, but it's not something we can risk." Richard said. "If we can we need to arrange it so that Draco is there for the birth."

"What do you suggest?" Hermione asked. "Draco can't travel the muggle way as he doesn't have a passport."

"Not to mention I wouldn't have a clue as to how to survive in the muggle world." Draco added. "It took me long enough to work out how to find your village the first time I came to visit."

"I admit that is a problem." Richard conceded. "If Draco had a passport I was thinking I could return from Australia before school ended and we could fly back together. Also that way he doesn't have to worry about where to find us."

"What if I was to charm an ordinary piece of paper into a passport?" Hermione asked, an idea forming in her head. "I'm pretty sure my glamour charms would be strong enough to fool muggles."

"Or what about an old passport." Richard suggested. "I got mine renewed last year and I still have my old one. That way all you need to do is charm certain bits, we can even use our passports to make sure it's perfect."

"Yes, I could try that." Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

"Do you think it would work?" Draco asked his girlfriend. "We're talking complicated charms here."

"I know, but I've got months to practice." Hermione replied. "It's worth a shot."

"But I'm going back to school in a few days, how will I know if it's worked?" Draco asked.

"That brings us to another point." Jean said. "We were going to ask if you could come to see us over the Easter break. We'll be getting ready to head to Australia then and it'll be your only chance to see Hermione before we go."

"Not to mention she'll have scan pictures and by then we should know the sex of the baby." Richard added.

"I'm not finding out the sex of the baby without Draco." Hermione argued. "It's something we should find out together."

"If Draco can come and visit we could maybe have the hospital write down the sex of the baby and put it in an envelope and you can discover it together." Jean suggested.

"I'll definitely come over the Easter break. I can just say I'm going out for a few hours." Draco said, pleased at the thought of seeing Hermione before the summer. "Although Hermione can also keep me updated with baby news when she writes to me."

"I don't think so." Hermione snorted. "The letters I write will be brief and contain no details about anything."

"Why?" Draco asked, looking horrified at the lack of communication.

"I don't trust certain Slytherins." Hermione replied. "If anyone was to find our letters we could end up in big trouble and all our plans will be worthless."

"I'm not stupid Hermione, I'm hardly going to be waving them around the common room. I'll keep every letter locked away safely."

"I'm still not taking that chance." Hermione insisted. "I wouldn't put it past that nosy cow Parkinson to go snooping around your things if she thought you were receiving letters from someone important. I'm sorry Draco, but I'm not risking getting discovered like that."

"I guess you're right." Draco sighed in disappointment. Letters from Hermione were the only thing he thought would make the next few months bearable, now it looked as though he wouldn't even have them.

"I will still write, but I just can't give any real details." Hermione told her boyfriend, feeling bad that he looked so forlorn at the thought of not hearing from her.

"You might not be able to give details, but you could answer questions." Jean said, a solution to the couple's problems becoming evident to her. "If Draco writes first he could include a series of questions and in your reply you could answer them."

"That would work." Hermione beamed. "Of course the questions would have to be very specific."

"I can do specific." Draco said with a smile. "Thank you Mrs Granger, that's a brilliant idea."

"Anything to help." Jean smiled at the young couple. "These next few months are going to be tough on the pair of you, so you're going to need all the comfort you can get."

"We appreciate your help." Hermione told her mother. "And we appreciate everything you're doing for us."

"You're our daughter, Hermione. We wouldn't dream of abandoning you." Richard said. "We just want you to be happy and we feel that together you two will be very happy and our grandchild will be very lucky to have parents like you."

Hermione hugged both her parents as she got tearful over their words and actions. She'd always known her parents were brilliant, but this just proved how much they loved her and the lengths they would go to just so she could be happy.

"We'll leave you two alone for a while." Richard said as Hermione settled back down next to Draco. "Draco, we'll see you in the Easter break."

"I'll let you know what day I'll be coming." Draco said as he thanked Hermione's parents again for their support.

Once Hermione's parents had left Hermione lay back down on her boyfriend's knee and the couple quietly chatted about their baby. Unfortunately before they knew it Draco was announcing it was time he went home. Neither of them wanted to push their luck with Draco staying any longer so Hermione reluctantly got up and walked Draco to the door.

"I want you to promise me you'll behave once you go back to school." Hermione said as Draco pulled on his jacket. "There's bound to be a pile more rumours about me when I don't return, but I don't want you to react. Just ignore it and before you know it you'll be leaving and we'll never have to deal with those people again."

"I'll try." Draco said, pulling Hermione into his arms.

"I'll miss you." Hermione told her boyfriend.

"I'll miss you too." Draco replied, giving Hermione a quick kiss. "I'll write to you next week and I'll see you in the Easter holidays."

After sharing a lingering kiss Draco reluctantly left Hermione's arms and the Granger's house. Hermione stood on the doorstep, watching Draco as he left. When he got to the corner he turned round and waved to Hermione before disappearing from view. Sadly Hermione returned indoors and shut the front door against the cold, she would now be counting down the weeks until she saw Draco again.


	12. Chapter 12

Draco stared out of the window of the Hogwarts Express. As the train barrelled along towards Hogwarts, Draco couldn't help but feel as though he was heading towards months of hell. Even if the gossip about Hermione died down quickly, he still remembered the cruel words people said about the witch he loved and more importantly he would be separated from her for months.

Trying not to dwell on Hermione's absence, Draco turned his attention to his friend's conversation. After what Blaise and Theo had said about Hermione, Draco wanted to be nowhere near the two boys, but in order to keep up appearances he had sat with them as usual on the train. Fortunately the boys were discussing Quidditch and Draco eased into the conversation effortlessly.

For most of the journey Draco actually enjoyed himself in his friend's company. While he hadn't forgotten their past behaviour it was easier to ignore when the talk was based around Quidditch and how Slytherin were going to finally win the Quidditch Cup. Unfortunately about half an hour before the train arrived at school the peace was shattered hen Pansy burst into the carriage, smirking about something.

"She hasn't come back." Pansy crowed, looking smug.

"You'll have to give us a bit more detail, Pans." Theo said to the witch. "Who hasn't come back?"

"Granger." Pansy replied as though they were stupid for not realising who she was talking about. "I guess the slapper was too ashamed to show her face again."

"How do you know she's not coming back?" Blaise asked.

"I overheard Potter and Weasley talking, apparently Granger's not on the train and they haven't heard from her all break." Pansy answered.

"It doesn't mean she's not returning." Theo pointed out. "Maybe she's travelling up to Hogwarts another way. Or maybe she's arriving late."

"Come on, it's obvious she's not coming back." Pansy snorted, dismissing Theo's ideas. "She was practically hiding away before Christmas, so it makes senses that she's bottled it and refused to return."

"Pansy might be right." Blaise said. "I mean it must have been humiliating for Granger that no-one owned up to being the father. Whoever shagged her clearly regretted it and didn't want the shame of being associated with her."

"Can't say I blame them." Pansy laughed. "Who would want to admit they've shagged a mudblood."

"Not me." Theo laughed along with Pansy. "I may well have tried it on with Granger if I'd known what a tart she was, but I never would have owned up to it."

"I'm with you there, mate." Blaise said, clapping Theo on the shoulder. "Shagging someone like Granger is definitely something you'd want to keep quiet about."

Unable to listen to any more Draco abruptly stood up and headed for the door. If he didn't leave soon he would lose his cool and his secret would be out before they even reached Hogwarts.

"Where are you going?" Pansy pouted. She was getting sick of Draco running off almost as soon as she showed up and it was making getting him interested in her hard to achieve. "Do you want any company?"

"I'm going to the bathroom, so no I don't need any company." Draco snarled, glaring at Pansy as she had stood up to accompany him.

Pansy hastily sat back down as Draco stalked out of the carriage, slamming the door behind him. The corridors were surprisingly packed as Draco made his way to the bathroom and in his anger he shoved past several people harder than he had intended. When one Gryffindor protested that he had stood on his foot Draco's deathly glare had him backing off and no-one uttered another word to the clearly infuriated blond.

Entering the small bathroom on the train, Draco silenced the compartment before viciously punching the wall and swearing at the top of his voice. The second Draco saw the blood trickling down his knuckles he regretted his actions. He'd promised Hermione he wouldn't punch any more walls and as he cleaned up his hand he vowed to keep the promise he'd made to his girlfriend. No matter how hard things got he would try to refrain from punching another wall.

By the time Draco had fixed his hand and calmed himself down the train was pulling into Hogsmeade. Darting from the bathroom he returned to the compartment to find Blaise and Theo waiting for him, carrying his bag.

"We were getting worried." Theo said, handing Draco his bag. "You've been gone a while."

"I was hoping Pansy would have gone by the time I returned." Draco replied. "I guess I waited a bit too long."

"Why don't you just tell her you're not interested?" Blaise asked as the trio disembarked from the train.

"I've tried, she's too thick to get the message." Draco snorted.

"Hey, she's not that bad." Theo protested.

"You're only saying that because every time Draco rejects her she comes running to you for a sympathy shag." Blaise retorted.

"What can I say, the sex is good with her." Theo shrugged, unconcerned that he was second best in Pansy's eyes.

"It ought to be, she's had enough practice." Blaise laughed. "Granger may have been the slapper who got pregnant but Pansy's a right tart."

Theo glared at Blaise, but he didn't argue as they climbed into a carriage. However once the carriage was in motion Blaise and Theo resumed their argument about Pansy. Draco refused to be drawn into the argument as he tuned the bickering out, he was just pleased that for once they weren't gossiping about Hermione.

While Draco's friends weren't gossiping about Hermione the rest of the school was. By the time everyone was settled in The Great Hall, the Gryffindor's absence was all anyone could talk about. By this point Draco's friends were back gossiping about Hermione and for the entire feast Draco had to listen to the whole school badmouth his girlfriend.

As he tried to ignore the talk nearby, Draco took to watching Hermione's former friends. The Christmas break didn't look to have changed anything with the Gryffindors, if anything the four looked even cosier. Lavender was draped all over Ron, while Ginny was snuggled up next to Harry and the four were laughing and joking together. It was easy to see Potter and Weasley didn't care that Hermione wasn't there and Draco felt a wave of fresh anger aimed towards the dense duo. After everything Hermione had done for them, they had just cast her aside and now they weren't even bothered that their actions had forced her to leave the school she loved.

* * *

**...**

* * *

After an eventful start of term feast the students began making their way back to their common rooms. While Hermione was the main subject of gossip in all the common rooms, it was in Gryffindor Tower that she was mentioned the most. While the rumours had swirled over dinner they escalated when a gleeful Lavender headed to check the dorm room and returned a few seconds later to announce all of Hermione's belongings were gone.

"Charming, you'd think she'd have the decency to tell us she was leaving." Ron grumbled.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from her. She didn't have the decency to tell us who she was shagging." Ginny retorted.

"That's different though, Gin, that was private." Harry argued. "But I do agree with Ron, she should have told us she wasn't coming back."

"Maybe Dumbledore will make her come back." Ron suggested. "She can't just drop out of school."

"Fred and George did." Ginny said, reminding her brother of the twin's dramatic exit the previous year.

"That was different. They were in their final year and they only had a few months to go, Hermione has another year and a half to go." Ron argued.

"Maybe we should go and see Dumbledore." Harry suggested. "He might be able to tell us if Hermione is coming back."

"Brilliant." Ron beamed, jumping up from his seat. "Are you coming, Lav?"

"I guess so." Lavender replied with a shrug. She didn't particularly want Hermione to return but maybe she would hear good news regarding the brunette witch she regarded as a rival for Ron's affections.

The four teenagers left Gryffindor Tower and Harry led the way to Dumbledore's office. Halfway to the headmaster's office they were stopped in their tracks by Mrs Norris prowling about the empty corridor. Not wanting to run into the caretaker, Argus Filch, the teenagers branched off and took a longer route to Dumbledore's office.

"What are you four doing?" A voice suddenly called as the quartet trooped along a corridor that would lead them back towards the headmaster's office.

The teenagers stopped in their tracks and turned round to find Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway to an empty classroom. The Head of Gryffindor looked less than impressed to find four students belonging to her house wandering the corridors after curfew.

"Well?" McGonagall demanded, when no reply was forthcoming.

"We were going to see Professor Dumbledore." Harry answered.

"What were you going to see him about?" McGonagall asked, glaring harshly at the four Gryffindors. "Professor Dumbledore is far too busy for petty student inquiries, you know."

"We were going to ask about Hermione." Harry admitted.

"We wanted to know if he was making her come back to school." Ron added.

"Miss Granger is seventeen, we can't force her to return to school." McGonagall replied sadly.

Earlier that day Dumbledore had informed the staff that he'd had word from the Grangers saying that Hermione wasn't returning to school. In private Dumbledore had confided in McGonagall that Hermione's parents had made it clear the main reason the Gryffindor witch wasn't returning to school was because of the abuse she had suffered, especially from her so called friends. Unfortunately McGonagall wasn't surprised to hear that as she suspected that Hermione's friends were being especially unsupportive.

"So, she's not coming back." Ginny stated, sharing a smirk with Lavender.

"No, and I can't say I blame her." McGonagall replied frostily. "After all why would she want to return to where her friends are such horrible people?"

"We're not horrible." Ginny protested. "It was Hermione who pulled away from us."

"I wonder why." McGonagall snorted. "I expected such nasty behaviour from certain elements in the school, but I expected better from you three. You were supposed to be her friend's, but you treated her worse than everyone else. Honestly, I'm so very disappointed in the lot of you and I'm ashamed to have you as Gryffindors. Now get back to Gryffindor Tower, before I start assigning detentions."

Grumbling about the tongue-lashing they had just received the four teenagers turned round and headed back to Gryffindor Tower. McGonagall watched them go with a scowl before turning and walking back to her own office.

Once in her own office, McGonagall settled down at her desk and pulled a letter from her pocket. The letter was from Hermione and Dumbledore had given it to her that morning when it had accompanied the letter he received from her parents. The letter was just a quick note from Hermione expressing her gratitude for the kindness McGonagall had shown her throughout the previous few months.

McGonagall re-read the letter once again before placing it in her desk drawer. She was sad that her best student wasn't returning but she could see that Hermione was doing what was best for her and the baby. Being stuck in a school where everyone was talking about you and making toxic remarks, wasn't a good environment to be in and McGonagall could easily understand how the young witch was unable to cope with returning to school.

McGonagall had meant every word she'd said to the four teenagers and right at this moment in time she was less than impressed with the students in her house. The whole thing had left McGonagall with a bitter view of her house and the students within it, Hermione was supposed to be their friend and in her hour of need her friends had abandoned her.

McGonagall just hoped that now Hermione was free from the malicious gossip that she was content. Now she could concentrate on what was important, her child and her future. McGonagall just hoped that the mystery father would be doing the right thing and standing by Hermione and the baby they were expecting. Although something told her that he was doing just that and that Hermione had the support she needed.


	13. Chapter 13

Hermione sat on the sofa, nervously flicking through a magazine. It was the beginning of the Easter holidays and Draco was due at the house any minute. Hermione hadn't seen her boyfriend since just before the New Year and it was now the end of March and she was missing him terribly. They had been writing to each other every week and Draco had managed to compile a list of detailed questions every week that just needed a short answer, but it was enough to keep him informed of her progress. The letters also detailed what Draco had been up to and Hermione was pleased to hear that Draco seemed to be coping okay, his main focus seemed to be Quidditch and had had told her about Slytherins second win in great detail earlier in the year.

Hermione herself had been helping her parents organise the move to Australia and sorting out Draco's fake passport. As of the previous week everything was booked and sorted, now all they needed to do was inform Draco of their plans.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Jean asked, entering the front room and finding a nervous looking Hermione perched on the end of the sofa.

"I'm just looking forward to seeing Draco." Hermione replied, discarding the magazine onto the coffee table. "I just wish he would hurry up."

Jean had just started to say how impatient Hermione was when the doorbell rang. Hermione immediately jumped up and went rushing to the door. Before she opened the door she took a deep breath to calm herself down and once she was calm she swung the door open, to reveal Draco standing on the doorstep.

Hermione's eyes lit up at the sight of Draco and before he could even say hello she had thrown herself into his arms. Draco wrapped his arms tightly around Hermione as he buried his head in her hair and breathed in her familiar vanilla scent. After a few minutes the couple separated enough to enter the house and for Draco to remove his jacket.

"Wow, look at you." Draco said, reaching his hand out to brush over Hermione's small bump. "I kind of thought you'd be bigger."

"I'm lucky, I'm not really showing much." Hermione replied. "But I'm only five months gone, I could balloon in the next four."

"How is everything with the baby? Is everything going okay?" Draco asked, unable to tear his eyes from his girlfriend's stomach.

"Come into the front room and we can talk properly." Hermione said, grabbing hold of Draco's hand and leading him into the front room.

After settling down on the sofa, Hermione and Draco began to catch up while Jean went off to make a pot of tea. Richard was upstairs and they decided to discuss the baby and their plan to emigrate once everyone was present.

"How's things at school?" Hermione asked. In his letters Draco had seemed fine but Hermione hadn't been sure if her boyfriend was just putting on a brave face, however face to face she knew she would know if he was lying.

"Not bad actually." Draco replied. "The first few weeks back were tough as the rumours about why you weren't there were flying around. But things settled down and I don't think I've heard anyone mention you for months."

"That's good." Hermione smiled, pleased Draco didn't have to listen to people slagging her off any more. "How are Harry and Ron? How did they react when I didn't return?"

"I thought you weren't interested in them anymore." Draco said, unsure why Hermione wanted to know about her former friends.

"I'm just curious. I was just wondering if the two people I considered my best friends even missed me." Hermione replied.

"They seem fine. They're both happy with their bitchy girlfriends and like with everyone else I haven't heard them mention you in months." Draco told Hermione, hoping he wasn't upsetting her.

Luckily Hermione had long since ceased to let her former friends upset her. There was a part of her that was sad they had dismissed her so quickly, but it really showed her just how unimportant she had always been to them.

Before Hermione had a chance to ask more questions her mother returned with the tea tray. Shortly afterwards Richard entered the room. After greeting Draco warmly Hermione's father sat down with his wife and the conversation got onto the baby Hermione was carrying.

"Here's your scan photo's dear." Jean said, handing a small envelope over to Hermione. "I've also included the envelope containing the sex of the baby, if you want to find out."

"Thanks mum." Hermione smiled at her mother as she took the envelope from her hand.

Hermione's parents then sat quietly and watched as Hermione showed Draco the pictures of the baby. His excitement was obvious to see and the older couple couldn't help but smile as the younger couple chattered happily about their child.

"Should we find out the sex?" Hermione asked, once Draco had seen the pictures.

"If you want to." Draco replied, not wanting to make the decision by himself.

"Do you want us to leave the room?" Jean asked. "We don't mind giving you a bit of privacy."

"You don't need to do that." Hermione said.

"We'd like you to stay." Draco added. "In fact, why don't you two do the honours and open the envelope."

"Are you sure?" Richard asked as Hermione handed the envelope containing the sex of the baby over to her mother.

"Yes." Hermione nodded. "Open it."

Richard leant over as Jean opened the envelope with shaking hands. Richard smiled down at the slip of paper in his wife's hands as the sex was revealed while Jean let out a happy squeal.

"You're having a girl." Jean announced proudly.

"A girl." Hermione smiled widely. "We're having a daughter."

Draco was also thrilled by the news and his hand returned to rest on Hermione's stomach. "That's amazing." He said quietly.

"Are you sure you're not disappointed that you're not getting a son to carry on the family name?" Hermione asked. She knew while Draco had problems with his father he was still proud to be a Malfoy.

"No a daughter is perfect." Draco grinned, showing Hermione how happy he was with the news.

"Now you'll have to start thinking about names." Jean said to the happy couple.

"Actually I was hoping we could continue on with the Black family tradition of using the names of stars and constellations." Draco said. "I don't know when mother will get to meet her granddaughter, but it would mean so much to her if when she did the little one was named after a star."

"I think that's a lovely idea." Hermione said with a smile. "And think of all the research I can do into constellations and stars. That will be so much fun."

Everyone laughed at Hermione and her enthusiasm for research. Even choosing a baby name was an excuse for her to bury her head in books.

"I think we should discuss the plan for the end of school now." Richard announced, after several more minutes of baby talk.

"Did the passport work?" Draco asked. He had asked about the passport in one of his letters and Hermione had told him she was still working on it.

"Yes, I'll show you." Hermione said, summoning the passport to show Draco. "It should fool a muggle, but just in case make sure you have you wand ready to confound them if necessary. I've used a fake name as it's not safe to use your own, or anyone associated with either of us."

"What about the picture?" Draco asked, looking at the old picture of Hermione's father that was still stuck into the passport.

"You'll have to fix that." Hermione replied. "I was thinking you could get some polyjuice potion from the Potions stores and some hairs belonging to someone and travel in disguise. Then all you have to do is enchant the picture to look like whoever you're posing as."

"I can do that." Draco nodded. "I will have to make sure I have enough polyjuice potion with me, but that won't be a problem."

"Excellent." Richard nodded. "We're flying out to Australia at the end of next week and I'll fly back two days before school ends. The day school ends you need to meet me at Glasgow airport, can you do that?"

"Yeah, I've been to Glasgow so that should be no problem." Draco replied. "I haven't been to the airport though, that might prove tricky."

"Maybe there's someplace nearby where we can meet." Richard suggested. "I've got a map in the car, come with me and we can see if we can make alternative arrangements."

Eager to get things sorted Richard and Draco headed out to the garage where they arranged to meet in a nearby muggle pub, that Draco remembered passing from a previous visit. Once that was sorted Richard and Jean surprised Draco by announcing they were off out for the afternoon.

"We've got some last minute shopping to do." Jean explained to Draco. "You'll probably be gone when we get back, so goodbye Draco. I'll see you again in Australia."

"Goodbye Mrs Granger, and thank you once again for everything you're doing for us." Draco said, getting a hug from Hermione's mum as she insisted he started calling her Jean.

"See you in Glasgow, Draco." Richard said, shaking the blond's hand. "And good luck with the rest of your year."

"Thank you." Draco replied, smiling at the older man.

"We'll be off now, bye." Jean called as she and her husband exited the house, leaving the teenagers alone.

"I didn't expect that." Draco remarked, once they knew they were definitely alone and that her parents were gone.

"They wanted to give us some time alone." Hermione explained. "We'll not see each other until July and they know how much I've been missing you."

"I've been missing you too." Draco replied, pulling Hermione into his arms and kissing her gently. "I've missed talking to you and even sitting next to you when we don't need to talk. I've missed holding you in my arms and kissing you. I've missed touching you and making love to you."

"Sounds like we've been missing the same things." Hermione smiled. "I've especially missed the last one."

"Me too." Draco chuckled. Even though the sexual side of their relationship only began at the beginning of the school year, and was brought to an abrupt with the Christmas break, Draco still missed the intimacy of being with Hermione.

"My parents won't be back until late, maybe we should go upstairs." Hermione suggested.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked as Hermione pulled him to his feet. "Is it safe for the baby?"

"That never bothered you at school." Hermione chuckled. Her pregnancy certainly hadn't dented their sex life while they were at school.

"I know but you were just weeks along, now you've got a bump and everything." Draco said.

"It won't hurt the baby, but if the bump repulses you, I understand." Hermione said quietly, feeling slightly rejected.

"The bump doesn't repulse me. In fact I would love to see it properly. I just wanted to be sure we weren't doing anything that would hurt our daughter." Draco reassured Hermione, pulling her back into his arms. "There's nothing I want more than to take you upstairs and make love to you."

Hermione smiled and gave Draco a quick kiss before taking hold of his hand and leading him up to her room. Once in her room Hermione pushed Draco onto the bed as she stood before him. In one fluid movement she unzipped her dress and let it pool around her feel, leaving her standing in a matching green and black underwear set.

Draco's eyes immediately fell to her small bump and as she stepped forward he placed both his hands on her stomach. "It really is a lot smaller than I expected."

"And you're not repulsed?" Hermione checked.

"Definitely not repulsed." Draco grinned. "You're gorgeous."

Hermione blushed but she knew by now that Draco meant every word he said, he really did find her beautiful. Draco chuckled at Hermione's coyness as he pulled her onto the bed with him. While Hermione settled herself on the bed, Draco removed his socks and shoes, trousers and shirt. Down to his boxers he climbed back onto the bed and gave Hermione a deep kiss.

Barely able to keep their hands and lips to themselves the couple were soon naked, with Draco buried deep inside Hermione. Being very careful of his girlfriend's current state, Draco slowly made love to Hermione. The couple both knew these few hours would be all they had to see them through another long separation and they intended to make the most of it.


	14. Chapter 14

Wandering around the dorm room Draco double checked that he hadn't forgotten anything. Tomorrow he was leaving and he wanted to be sure he had everything. Everything unimportant had been thrown into his school trunk, while everything he needed had been added to his bag, which was enchanted with an undetectable extendable charm. Satisfied he had everything Draco flopped onto the bed, wishing it was tomorrow and time for him to leave.

Since Easter the time seemed to have passed even slower and Draco was finding it harder and harder to get through each day. Part of the reason Draco was finding it so hard was the fact his contact with Hermione had trailed off significantly. With her now being in Australia it just wasn't feasible to write to her every week, his poor owl just couldn't manage it, so in the past four months he had heard from his girlfriend three times.

Draco was also missing Hermione more than ever as he constantly thought about everything he was missing with the baby. Shortly before he'd left her over Easter, Hermione had grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. Draco had been stunned when he felt his daughter kicking and moving around inside Hermione. While it had been amazing to feel the baby, it has also made him very aware of everything he was missing out on, his only consolation was that he would be there when their daughter was born and he wouldn't be missing any part of her growing up.

As Draco thought about the baby he inevitably thought about Hermione, and his mind drifted to the last time he had seen her. Images of Hermione from their afternoon in bed were Draco's most frequent thoughts. Practically every night when he shut his eyes he encountered images of Hermione. Sometimes the images were of her writhing in pleasure underneath him but most of the time they were images of her on top of him. Her long, brunette hair trailing down her back as she threw her head back in ecstasy, her larger than normal breasts bouncing as she moved on top of him and most vivid were the images of her swollen stomach, where she was carrying the product of their love.

Sitting up abruptly, Draco shook his head to rid him of the images of a naked Hermione. The images always managed to turn him on and he didn't need that problem to deal with in the middle of the day, when anyone could walk into the room. Deciding it was safer to be around people, Draco hauled himself to his feet and reluctantly headed for the common room.

Entering the common room Draco inwardly groaned when the only student from his year he could see was Pansy. Pansy jumped up the second she saw Draco and bounded over to him, a simpering smile plastered all over her face.

"Where is everyone?" Draco asked. He didn't particularly want to spend time with his other friends, but it was better than being alone with Pansy.

"I don't know." Pansy shrugged. "It looks like it's just you and me."

"Joy." Draco muttered, stalking away from Pansy and settling down on the chair in front of the fire.

"I was thinking that maybe we could meet up in the summer." Pansy said, perching on the arm of Draco's chair and leaning over slightly so he got an eyeful of her cleavage.

"And why would I want to do that?" Draco sneered. Since he was leaving the following day he saw no reason to be nice to his supposed friends, in fact he was thinking he might just let them know exactly what he thought of them.

"I was thinking it could be like a date." Pansy purred, not recognising the disgust in Draco's earlier words.

"I don't think so, I'm not desperate." Draco laughed cruelly. "And believe me, you would have to be desperate to go with a cruel, vindictive, bitch like you."

Pansy's eyes filled with tears as she removed herself from the arm of Draco's chair. "What have I ever done to you to deserve that?" She whispered.

Draco had to bite his tongue to stop himself mentioning Hermione and everything she had done to the witch he loved. Compared to what Pansy had said about Hermione, his words were tame. He had to admit however, that he felt a little bit of pleasure seeing the raven haired witch on the verge of tears.

"You've done plenty to me." Draco replied. "How about we start with the fact you just won't leave me alone. I've told you thousands of times I'm not interested, but you're just too thick to understand."

"I'm not thick." Pansy sniffed as a few tears started to fall.

"You have to be if you honestly think I'd touch you. You've had half the boys in Slytherin, and apart from Theo they all reckon you're a pretty bad shag. Why on earth would I want a slapper like you, who's not even good in the sack?"

At Draco's words Pansy burst into loud tears and fled from the room. Draco barely had time to smirk at the sight of the retreating witch, before he felt a couple of hands on his arm. Before he knew it he was whirled round and came face to face with a furious looking Theo and a disapproving looking Blaise.

"Enjoy the show did you?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"What the hell was that?" Theo growled. "That was just cruel, Draco."

"I was just telling Pansy a few home truths." Draco shrugged. "If she can't take it then she shouldn't dish it out."

"Go and apologise now." Blaise said menacingly.

"Like hell will I." Draco snorted. "And if you two don't get your hands off me, I'll let you know what I really think of you."

"You'll hurl insults at us?" Blaise questioned mockingly. "We're not girls, we're not going to run off in tears."

"I was thinking more like showing you." Draco had barely finished speaking before he pulled out of Theo's grasp and threw a punch at the other boy.

Draco's fist connected with Theo's jaw and it sent the other Slytherin sprawling to the floor. Blaise was taken so much by surprise that before he could react Draco had also thrown a punch his way, clocking him right on the nose. Blaise managed to stay on his feet and return a fist to Draco's mouth. By this point Theo had staggered to his feet and within seconds the three Slytherins were involved in a full on brawl.

As the three sixth years laid into one another most of the students in the common room gathered around to watch. However when Pansy emerged from her room to see what the commotion was about she rushed straight off to find Snape. Moments later she returned with their head of house and Snape broke up the fight.

"What on earth is going on?" He demanded, looking at the three boys in front of him.

All three looked dishevelled and all of them had blood pouring from different parts of their body. Blaise's nose was streaming with blood and it looked to be bent at an odd angle. Theo's left eye was beginning to swell shut and he had a nasty cut on his forehead. Draco meanwhile had a split lip and a nasty bruise was forming just under his eye.

"Well?" Snape glared at the trio as he waited for an answer.

"Nothing." Blaise spoke up finally. "It was just a misunderstanding."

"Since it's the last day of term I can't assign detentions for this year, but at the beginning of next year you'll all report to me and I'll have a suitable punishment sorted for you." Snape said. "Now, you three get to the infirmary and get cleaned up, and the rest of you get back to what you were doing."

Snape glared around the common room before sweeping out of the room, his black cloak billowing behind him. Blaise and Theo shot Draco a nasty glare as they also turned to leave the room. Draco watched as Pansy hurried up to the duo and the three departed for the hospital wing. Draco waited until they were out of sight before leaving the common room himself, and turning to head outside.

Draco winced as the fresh air hit his cut lip, but he couldn't deny that he felt better. Even though Pansy, Blaise and Theo didn't know the reason for his anger, he at least felt he had gotten some sort of payback for their cruel words regarding Hermione earlier in the year. He just wished he could do the same with everyone who had hurt Hermione, especially her so called friends.

As it turned out Draco got his wish sooner than expected as he headed down to the Black Lake. Draco was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice the four Gryffindors sitting nearby. In fact he didn't even notice the foursome until Weasley's smug voice rang around the Lake.

"You're a mess. Has someone finally given you what you deserve?"

At the voice Draco turned and found the four Gryffindors sitting on the grass nearby, laughing at the redhead's taunt. Draco knew the taunt was partly because of their natural hatred for him, but a much bigger part was anger at the fact Slytherin had just thrashed Gryffindor in the last Quidditch match of the season, ensuring Slytherin won the cup.

"More like I've given them what they deserved." Draco remarked, stalking over to the Gryffindor foursome.

"As if." Harry laughed. "You're too much of a coward to start a fight."

"I bet I pack a better punch than you two combined." Draco taunted, hoping he could goad the duo into fighting so he could give them a whack as well. "Hell, I bet even your two tarts here, hit harder than you two."

At the insult both Harry and Ron jumped to their feet and advanced on Draco, who stood his ground and waited for them to get closer to him. Smirking at the duo, Draco waited to see what would happen next or if they would back down like they often tended to do.

"Say that again, I dare you." Ron snarled.

"Which bit? The part where you and Potter are a couple of pansies and hit like girls, or the part where I pointed out what tarts your girlfriends are?" Draco smirked at the duo as they went red and started spluttering in annoyance.

"We're not tarts." Ginny protested, as her and Lavender stood up and stood off to the side of the three boys.

"Sure you are." Draco snorted. "Brown's had half the school, including at least two Slytherins that I know of, and you've dropped your knickers for a few boys before Potter got the dubious pleasure of bedding you."

"You bastard." Ron yelled, taking a swing at Draco.

Luckily Draco was watching the boys as he spoke and he managed to avoid Ron's fist. The punch threw Ron off balance and Draco used the opportunity to aim his own fist at the redhead's face. Draco heard the satisfying crack of bone as he hit Ron's nose, but before he could gloat Harry had raised his own fist, catching Draco on his split lip. Draco staggered slightly before regaining his balance and sending his hand flying into Harry's face. Harry's glasses went flying, landing next to where Lavender and Ginny were watching on with horror. By this point Ron was returning to his feet and just like in the Slytherin common room Draco found himself in the middle of a three way brawl.

Like in the Slytherin common room the students nearby watched on, enjoying the rare sight of a physical fight. Also like the earlier fight one concerned student, this time a nosey first year, ran off to find a Professor to deal with the fighting sixth years. When the student came back they were accompanied by Professor's McGonagall and Snape, who immediately ended the fight.

"What on earth are you three playing at?" McGonagall demanded as the three boys separated, all of them dripping with blood and looking in a right state.

"Malfoy started it." Ginny piped up, not wanting Harry and Ron to get into trouble. "He just came over and started calling us names."

"Actually Weasley started it, he spoke to me first." Draco argued, wiping away the blood that was running from his lip. "I was just giving my opinion on you four, it's not my fault you don't like the truth."

"It wasn't the truth, it was just insults." Lavender huffed.

"From where I'm standing it's the truth." Draco retorted. "Potter and Weasley are spineless bastards and Brown and She-Weasley are nasty, malicious bitches."

"Draco, that's enough. You're coming with me." Snape snapped at his godson, grabbing him by the arm before turning to McGonagall. "I'll leave you to deal with your students."

As Snape dragged him up to the castle, Draco managed one final smirk at McGonagall laying into the two Gryffindor boys. Once inside the castle Snape led him to his office and bundled him inside, slamming the door behind him.

"I want an explanation." Snape demanded, stalking round his desk so he was facing Draco.

Draco wasn't concerned about getting into trouble as he was leaving the following day, but he always hated it when Severus looked at him in such a disapproving way. His godfather was much more of a father to him than his own father and Draco hated to let him down.

"Potter and Weasley wound me up." Draco replied. "They've been asking for it for years, and even more so these last few weeks since we beat them at Quidditch."

"Knowing them two, I'm sure you're right." Snape said, his dislike of the two Gryffindors very evident to Draco. "But you know better than to react. And what about earlier in the dungeons, with Blaise and Theo? Did they wind you up as well?"

"I know I shouldn't have reacted, I'm sorry." Draco said, not wanting to leave with Severus angry at him.

"I'll have to punish you for this." Snape sighed. "You're going to start next year with so many detentions, and this will have blown you Head Boy chances."

"As if I had any chance of becoming Head Boy." Draco snorted. "Dumbledore hates me, he never would have allowed me to become Head Boy."

"We'll never know now, will we?" Snape replied. Although secretly he agreed with his godson, it had been a battle to even get Draco the Prefect's position the previous year. "Now go to the hospital wing and get yourself fixed up. You're then to go back to the common room and you're not to leave the dungeons until tomorrow morning. I'll arrange for your meals to be brought to your room."

Draco nodded and turned to leave the room. As he reached the door Draco looked back, unable to walk away without at least saying something to his godfather.

"Thank you, Severus. For everything."

Snape snapped his head up at Draco's use of his first name, normally he only used it outside of school so it was a shock to hear him use it in school. However, before Snape could answer Draco had disappeared, closing the door firmly behind him.

For a long while Snape sat and pondered on his godson's words. It had sounded like a goodbye, but that made no sense as he would see Draco in the holidays. Deciding he was reading too much into a simple comment Snape stood up and left his office, little realising the conversation he had just had with Draco would be the last one for a long time.


	15. Chapter 15

The sun had barely risen and Draco was already up and raring to go. Unfortunately the previous afternoon's fights had taken a toll on him. His lip was quite swollen and painful and there was a nasty bruise forming under his eye. A couple of glamour charms hid the damage but they didn't hide the ache he felt when he moved or spoke.

The aching however wasn't important in the light of what was to come that day. Draco had the entire day perfectly planned out and he knew exactly how to make his escape. As he was mentally reviewing the plan Draco realised his fight with his friends the previous day would make his absence from the train even harder to notice, hopefully it would be a long time before they even knew he wasn't on board the Hogwarts Express.

After getting dressed, Draco retreated to the common room where he settled down on the chair by the fire. For nearly an hour he sat reminiscing about the past six years and he found he was actually going to miss Hogwarts. Granted the last year hadn't been the easiest or the most memorable, but he'd had some good times in years gone by.

Draco was still thinking about the past when the rest of the Slytherins began to rise. From his place by the fire he watched as various groups of friends entered the common room, before heading off to breakfast. Among the last group to appear were his former friends. Blaise and Theo gave Draco a glare before they headed off to breakfast with the rest of the group.

Once Draco knew the dorm room was empty he headed back upstairs, just to double check he had everything. While he was sorting his bag and elf appeared and left him a mug of tea and a plate of toast. Draco drank the tea and munched on the toast while he finished sorting the bag. Once he was a hundred per cent sure he hadn't forgotten anything, Draco grabbed the bag and headed back into the common room.

Half an hour later breakfast was finished and the Slytherins began to arrive back at the dorm to get ready to leave. As per usual when the students left to board the train they brought their trunks down into the common room and stacked them by the door. By the time the train left Hogsmeade the trunks would all be magically aboard the train, ready for the owners to pick them up as they disembarked at London.

In the midst of everyone returning Draco headed up to the dorm room and returned with his trunk. Throwing it onto the pile he joined the Slytherins exiting the common room and heading outside. Once outside he joined the line for the carriages, eventually getting a seat in with a few Slytherin fifth years.

Arriving at Hogsmeade station, Draco looked about at the madness one final time. When he spotted Potter and Weasley both sporting black eyes he couldn't help but smirk deviously at the duo. For a second Draco thought the pair were going to approach him and start something, but their girlfriends appeared to drag them onto the train.

Once Potter and Weasley had disappeared onto the train, Draco boarded the red engine. As he walked down the corridor he made sure he was spotted by several Slytherins, including his former friends. Once he was sure enough people had seen aboard the train he darted into a bathroom and silenced the room. Holding tightly onto his bag Draco got out his wand and took a deep breath. Concentrating on where he wanted to be, Draco waved his wand and dissapparated with a pop.

* * *

...

* * *

Richard sat directly opposite the door in the Glaswegian pub as he waited for Draco. He was currently checking the flight details on his phone, making sure there was no delays or anything. At the minute everything was running on time, he just needed Draco to arrive. As if on cue the door then opened and Draco entered the pub, looking nervously around.

"Draco, over here." Richard called, grabbing the blond's attention.

"Hello." Draco sighed in relief as she sat down opposite Hermione's father. Despite the plan being set there was still a part of him that had worried that something would go wrong and Richard wouldn't be meeting him.

"Did you get away okay?" Richard asked.

"Yeah, but just to be on the safe side I apparated to a few places before coming here." Draco replied. "How's Hermione?" He asked, eager to hear about his girlfriend.

"She's good." Richard smiled. "She's settled in a nice house, now all she needs is you by her side."

"We better get going then." Draco said. "Do we have everything?"

"I have the passports and tickets." Richard replied. "Do have the potion that changes your appearance."

"Yeah, I've got it already made up. I stole some hairs from my godfather." Draco said, patting his bag.

Draco had stolen the ingredients of the polyjuice potion just after Easter and he had secretly brewed it in the room of requirements. He'd then stolen the hairs from Snape the previous week and added them to the potion, before bottling it. Draco had a large supply of the potion as he knew the journey would be long and he was also being careful in case there were any delays.

"Let's go then." Richard said. "You can take the potion at the airport."

Richard led the way from the pub and called into the nearby taxi office for a taxi to take them to the airport. Draco was slightly unnerved by using muggle transport as he sat still and silent in the back of the cab. Without Richard at his side he knew he never would have been able to travel the muggle way.

At the airport, Richard handed Draco the passport and told him to go and change his appearance. Draco headed into some nearby toilets and after making sure they were deserted he locked the door. He then downed some of the vile polyjuice potion, and watched in the mirror as he turned into Severus. After charming the passport to show Severus's picture Draco unlocked the door and re-entered the main body of the airport.

Walking up to Richard he had to make himself known, as Hermione's father no longer recognised him.

"This is just bizarre." Richard muttered, looking Draco up and down and finding an entirely different person standing in front of him. "I'm not sure I'll ever get used to magic."

"It must be weird, living your entire life without knowing of its existence, only to have your only daughter turn out to be a witch." Draco commented.

"It did take some getting used to." Richard chuckled. "But it also explained some of the strange things Hermione used to do when she was little."

"Hermione said her accidental magic was pretty strong as a child." Draco replied. "That's why she's such a powerful witch now, her basic magic is strong and she's just honed her skill."

Richard nodded and the two men chatted about Hermione as they headed further into the airport. After finding their flight information they headed in the direction they needed to go and began the process of checking in. Much to both Draco and Richard's relief, Hermione's spells on the passport worked perfectly and no-one paid Draco any special attention.

"How long's the flight?" Draco asked as they waited to board.

"It takes nearly twenty four hours to get to Australia, but this isn't a direct flight. There was no direct flights today so I thought it was best to book this one. There's a three hour stopover, but we'll still be in Australia quicker than waiting for a direct flight." Richard explained.

Shortly after their conversation the flight boarded and a very nervous Draco found himself settling down on a plane for the first time. Hermione had told him about flying a few years earlier and Draco had decided it sounded too dangerous for his liking and he vowed never to do it. However, he would do anything to get to Hermione and if flying in a muggle aircraft was what he had to do to get to his girlfriend and unborn child, then he would do it without complaint.

* * *

...

* * *

Hermione paced the floor of the airport, absent-mindedly rubbing her hand over her fairly large stomach. The flight Draco and her father were due to be on had landed a while ago, and she was beginning to worry that something had gone wrong. Hermione was trying to remain positive as she'd been pinning her hopes on seeing Draco today, and she didn't know how she would cope if she didn't get to see her boyfriend soon.

"Here they are." Jean called excitedly, pointing into the crowds.

Hermione looked at where her mother was pointing and she spotted her father heading in their direction. Just behind her father she spotted the familiar platinum blond hair of her boyfriend. Hermione wasn't sure if Draco would have still been under the effects of polyjuice potion, but much to her delight it had worn off. Hermione was pleased that it would be Draco himself she saw, not Draco posing as someone else. They hadn't seen each other in four months and Hermione had been looking forward to seeing the real Draco.

As the men got closer Hermione and Jean hurried forward to greet them. Richard and Jean shared a quick hug, before turning their attention to their daughter and her boyfriend. The second Draco spotted Hermione he had rushed forward and pulled her into his arms, burying his head in her hair as he repeatedly told her how much he'd missed her.

"I can't believe you're here." Hermione gushed, holding onto Draco tightly.

"I'm here and you're not getting rid of me again." Draco replied, pulling back just enough so he could kiss Hermione deeply.

Totally unconcerned by Hermione's watching parents the couple kissed and hugged for several minutes, until they pulled back and looked at each other. Draco's eyes automatically fell to Hermione's bump, which had grown considerably and was now much more on par with what Draco had imagined she would look like. Hermione meanwhile was looking at her boyfriend's split lip and bruised face.

"What have you done?" Hermione asked, gingerly reaching out and running her thumb over Draco's cheek. "Please tell me you haven't been fighting."

"Okay, I won't tell you." Draco grimaced as he realised he'd failed to reapply the glamour charm when the polyjuice potion had worn off several minutes ago.

"Draco, you promised." Hermione tutted, wondering if people now knew about them and if they were in danger.

"I know, but I couldn't help it." Draco sighed. "But I promise no-one knows about us."

"If no-one knows about us, then why were you fighting?" Hermione questioned, puzzled as to why Draco would be fighting unless he was defending her.

"I may have deliberately picked a couple of fights so I could punch a few people who'd been particularly nasty about you." Draco admitted.

"A couple? How many people did you hit?"

"Four." Draco said quietly. "The first fight was with Blaise and Theo, and the second one was with Potter and Weasley. I'm not sorry for any of it, all four deserved a good punch for the way they treated you."

Hermione sighed as she shook her head, she didn't condone what Draco had done but she could understand why he had done it. "Let's forget about it. That's in the past, we need to concentrate on our future."

"Talking of our future, how is my little princess?" Draco asked, placing a hand on Hermione's bump. "I hope she's being a good girl for her mummy."

"She has." Hermione smiled. "She's just been waiting for her daddy to arrive."

"I'm here, so we can finally start our lives together." Draco replied, smiling down at Hermione.

Hermione smiled back at Draco and the couple shared a brief kiss before turning and leaving the airport with Hermione's parents, heading towards their future as a family.

* * *

**A/N – This chapter marks the end of part 1 of Unbreakable. The next chapter is the start of part 2 and picks up two years later. The second part is much lighter and fluffy in tone, but both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins will find out about Hermione and Draco later on in the story. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Part Two.**

**Two Years Later.**

Deep in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic, the main courtroom was filling up in anticipation of the trial that was due to take place over the next few days. Since Voldemort's defeat a couple of months earlier his surviving Death Eaters had been facing trials. The previous week had seen Bellatrix Lestrange tried and sentenced to the Dementors kiss, and now another highly anticipated trial was about to begin, that of Lucius Malfoy.

Part of the appeal of Lucius's trial was the hope that the mystery of his missing son would be solved. When Draco failed to appear for his last year of Hogwarts the rumours started spreading that he was a Death Eater and was working on something special for Voldemort. However in the last two years he hadn't been seen by anyone, and even Voldemort's defeat didn't yield any sign of the blond.

Since the end of the war there had been other rumours, suggesting that Lucius himself had spread the first lot in order to cover up the fact he didn't know where his son was. Apparently Narcissa Malfoy had told the Auror's that Draco hadn't returned home from school at the end of his sixth year and that the family had no idea where he was. Unfortunately Narcissa wouldn't deny or confirm the rumours as she refused to speak to the press.

Two people who didn't believe the second set of rumours were Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. The two Gryffindors had played a part in helping defeat Voldemort and were now trainee Aurors. The two men were in attendance at the trial, hoping that Lucius would finally say where Draco was hiding. The pair were convinced their old adversary was up to no good and wherever he was they were determined to find him and throw him in Azkaban.

As the trial finally got under way there was a shock for the crowds when Lucius denied the charges levelled against him. Luckily the move wasn't a surprise one for Kingsley Shackelbolt, the Head Auror who was in charge of prosecuting the case. Kingsley took the denial in his stride and set about laying out the evidence against Lucius. By the time court adjourned for lunch, the case was looking pretty watertight and directly after lunch Kingsley called a surprise witness to testify.

"I call my next witness, Mr Draco Malfoy."

Ripples of surprise ran around the courtroom at the mention of Draco's name. Narcissa, who was sitting with Severus Snape, looked just as shocked as everyone else by the announcement. The news even seemed to affect Lucius, he had been sitting stoically throughout the proceedings but at the mention of his son he looked worried.

When the doors of the courtroom opened and Draco entered, flanked by two Aurors, the whispering grew louder. Totally unconcerned by the gossip Draco took his place in the witness stand. The blond didn't even react when Harry and Ron shot him murderous looks.

"Mr Malfoy, if you would kindly take a small drink from the glass in front of you." Kingsley said to the blond. "Let the records show that the glass contains veritiserum."

Draco picked up the glass and took a drink, making sure the entire court witnessed him doing so.

"Can you confirm you are Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy?" Kingsley said.

"I am." Draco replied.

"Where have you been these past two years?" Kingsley asked.

"Sydney, Australia." Draco answered.

"In your own words tell us why you left." Kingsley said.

"The summer before I started my sixth year at Hogwarts I overheard my father and aunt talking. They were planning on making sure I took the Dark Mark the following summer." Draco explained. "I decided there and then, that I had to leave to avoid getting the mark."

"Why didn't you just stay and say no?" Kingsley asked.

"You don't say no to Voldemort, or my father for that matter." Draco replied. "Saying no wasn't an option, if they said I had to take the mark, I would have had to take the mark."

"So what happened after you decided to leave?" Kingsley asked. "Why not go there and then?"

"I knew there was no point running before I turned seventeen, my father would have just found me using the magical trace placed on all underage witches and wizards." Draco answered. "Plus I needed time to save up some money, so I waited until after I finished sixth year before I left."

"What happened after you left school?" Kingsley asked.

"I travelled to Australia where I settled down and got a job."

"Would you care to tell the court why you're here today?" Kingsley questioned. "After all no-one knew where you were, you came to us."

"I read about Voldemort's defeat and my father's arrest a few months ago, but it was actually my boss who prompted me to return. He read an article accusing me of being a Death Eater." Draco answered. "I'm here to clear my name."

"What about your father, are you here to also help clear his name?" Kingsley questioned.

"No." Draco shook his head as he glared at his father. "He's guilty of every charge you've thrown at him. He's a Death Eater by choice, not be force. He willingly joined Voldemort and everything he's done in his service has been of his own free will."

"Thank you Mr Malfoy." Kingsley nodded, giving the blond a reassuring smile.

Kingsley had been worried that Lucius would be able to wriggle out of going to Azkaban, until a few days earlier when Draco had appeared in his office and offered to help. The Auror was in little doubt that Draco's damning evidence would be enough to secure not only a conviction but to secure the older Malfoy man received the Dementors kiss.

After Kingsley had finished with Draco it was Lucius's lawyer's turn. Draco's appearance had been a shock for everyone so he had no questions planned and as such ended up looking like an idiot as he tried to trip Draco up and make him contradict himself. Unfortunately for Lucius, Draco was more than willing to speak badly about his father and by the time the younger Malfoy left the stand everyone in court knew that Lucius was going down.

Shortly after Draco testified court was adjourned for the day, with the verdict expected to be delivered the next day. Almost everyone left the courtroom eager to spread the news that Draco Malfoy was back in town. Harry and Ron however were less than impressed with the blond's sudden reappearance and they set off to find Kingsley and get some answers from him.

When the duo arrived at Kingsley's office they found Narcissa and Severus also waiting for the Head Auror. The four waited in silence for a few minutes before Kingsley appeared.

"Harry, Ron, what are you doing here?" Kingsley asked, surprised to find the two trainee's waiting outside his office.

"We came to find out about Malfoy." Harry said, looking sideways at Narcissa.

"What about him?" Kingsley questioned. "His trial's nearly over and after today I say a guilty verdict is in the bag. Sorry, Narcissa, I didn't mean to offend you." Suddenly realising he was speaking in front of Lucius's wife, and even though she had admitted she wanted her husband sent to Azkaban he didn't want to seem insensitive.

"You didn't offend me, Kingsley. I hope you do get a guilty verdict." Narcissa said to the Auror.

"We weren't talking about Lucius." Ron interrupted. "We were talking about Draco. What is he doing here, and why hasn't he been arrested?"

"Why would he be arrested? You heard his evidence, he left to avoid getting the Dark Mark." Kingsley replied. "And as for why he's here, again he said in court his reasons for returning."

"You don't believe that do you?" Harry asked, shocked that Kingsley would be so believing when it came to the former Slytherin. "He was just saving his own skin."

"Not that it's any of your concern, but Draco doesn't have the Mark and his story checks out. He's been living in Australia for the last two years and he's had no contact with Death Eaters. Now I suggest you two leave." Kingsley glared at Harry and Ron until they left. He then turned to face Narcissa, with a smile on his face. "What can I do for you, Narcissa?"

"I pretty much wanted to know about Draco, but you explained most of it." Narcissa said. "But I also wanted to know where Draco is now."

"I don't actually know where he's staying, but he did give me a message to pass on to you. He'll be back tomorrow for the verdict, and he said he'll talk to you then and explain everything." Kingsley said to the witch.

"Thank you." Narcissa said.

"Do you know if he plans on sticking around?" Severus asked.

"I don't, but I got the impression that it very much depended on the verdict in Lucius's trial." Kingsley replied. "He was very careful in what he told me about his life. I think he's being extra cautious until he knows his father won't be a problem anymore."

Severus and Narcissa nodded understandingly, before thanking Kingsley and leaving the Ministry. Both of them left with a sense of anticipation, not only would Lucius likely to be gone from their lives, but they would see Draco and hopefully get some answers over where he had been for the last two years.

* * *

...

* * *

After leaving the Ministry, Draco apparated home to the Grangers. He and Hermione were currently staying with her parents as they awaited the verdict of Lucius's trial. When Draco decided to return home to testify against his father, he and Hermione decided to sell up in Australia and return to England. Whether they stayed in England rested on whether or not Lucius was sent to Azkaban. If Lucius was sentenced to life in the wizarding prison, as expected, Draco and Hermione would stay in the country near her parents and hopefully Draco could re-establish his relationship with Narcissa. If Lucius somehow escaped a custodial sentence Draco and Hermione were ready to run again, only this time it would be permanent and Hermione's parents would be joining them. After talking to Kingsley after being in court Draco was hopeful they would be sticking around and settling down back at home.

Entering the house, Draco was hit by the smell of freshly baked cakes. Baking was a hobby, Hermione picked up in Australia and she was talking about expanding her new found skills into a business. In Sydney Hermione had been a stay at home mum, looking after their daughter. Even with the money Draco had saved money was tight for the young couple and any money Hermione may have made from working would have only gone on child care so they decided that Draco would work while Hermione stayed at home.

Hanging up his jacket, Draco entered the kitchen to find Hermione icing a batch of cupcakes. Their two year old daughter, Lyra, was sitting in her high chair beside Hermione, watching her mother intently. Lyra was the perfect hybrid of her parents, she had Draco's fair complexion and his platinum blonde hair, while her eyes were the same warm shade of brown as Hermione's and her hair had a definite curl to it.

"Do we not have enough cake?" Draco chuckled as he kissed Hermione on the cheek, before picking up Lyra and making a fuss of the little girl. "We still have over half of Lyra's birthday cake left."

Lyra's second birthday had been the previous day and despite the looming trial of Lucius, the day had been a fun celebration. Richard and Jean had missed their granddaughters first birthday, when their plane to Australia was delayed the previous year, so they had been determined to make up for it and they had spoiled her rotten.

"I was nervous." Hermione explained. "You know I like to do something when I'm nervous, so I baked."

"I thought you would have been working on your business plan." Draco commented.

"There's actually not much more I can do until we know where we're going to be living." Hermione answered as she finished her icing and set the cakes to one side. "Speaking of which, how was today?"

"It went better than I thought. Kingsley seems confident he can get a conviction." Draco answered as the couple headed through to the front room where Richard and Jean were both sitting reading.

As Hermione and Draco settled down with Lyra, Draco filled the room in on what had happened. He recounted his testimony and explained that the verdict was due sometime the following day.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Hermione asked.

"No, I'm not taking any chances." Draco shook his head. He would actually have loved to have Hermione with him for support, but until he was sure Lucius was gone he didn't want to advertise the fact he had a fiancée and daughter.

"I guess you're right." Hermione sighed. While she wanted to be there for Draco, she knew it was safer if she stayed out of the way for now.

"Did you happen to see your mother today?" Jean asked, knowing the blond had been hoping to get a glimpse of his mother and make sure she was alright.

"I saw her briefly, but we didn't get a chance to speak." Draco replied. "I'm going to talk to her tomorrow, I just hope I'm not going to be saying goodbye."

"We just have to think positive." Hermione told her fiancé. "Lucius will get what he deserves and we can settle back down here and raise Lyra."

Draco nodded, hoping Hermione was right and that everything went their way the following day.


	17. Chapter 17

The courtroom was packed as Draco entered and took a seat near the back of the dungeon room. The verdict was in and it seemed the entire wizarding world was interested in Lucius's fate. Sitting a little way in front of him was his mother and godfather and Draco watched them closely. Kingsley had arranged for them to talk later, he just hoped he wouldn't be saying goodbye.

"Silence in the court." A magical voice called, silencing the gathered crowds.

Once the courtroom was silent the head of the Wizengamot stood up to address Lucius.

"Lucius Malfoy, you have been found guilty on all charges. You will receive the Dementors kiss as punishment for your crimes."

At the announcement of the sentence murmurs broke out in the courtroom, but Draco was watching his parents. Narcissa slumped against Severus and Draco witnessed them sharing a tender smile. Lucius meanwhile stared straight ahead, not reacting to his punishment. Lucius didn't even react when two Aurors magically cuffed him and led him from the courtroom as boos and jeers followed his retreating form.

In all the commotion Draco slipped from his seat and exited the courtroom. Moving quickly to avoid the crowds that would soon be wandering the corridors as the court case ended, Draco slipped into the room Kingsley had shown him earlier. Sitting down on one of the seats, Draco tried to comprehend what had happened as he waited for Kingsley to arrive with Narcissa. Despite hoping the trial would rid him of his father it still hurt to think his own father was going to be at the mercy of the Dementors.

Draco was in the room for nearly fifteen minutes before the door opened and Kingsley entered, followed by Narcissa and Severus. The second she was in the room Narcissa ran over to Draco and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Oh, Draco it's so good to see you." Narcissa gushed, pulling back and looking at her son. Despite the fact he was still only nineteen he looked like an adult, clearly the last two years had matured her son rapidly.

"It's good to see you too, Mother." Draco smiled at his mother. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, sweetheart." Narcissa sniffed, pulling Draco into another hug so he didn't see the tears falling down her face.

After a few minutes mother and son parted and Severus stepped up to Draco. The two men shook hands as they both greeted each other with a friendly smile.

"I understand this is a family moment and I don't want to put a dampener of things, but Lucius will be receiving the kiss in ten minutes." Kingsley said, interrupting the reunion. "If anyone wants to be there, we need to go now."

"I can't." Narcissa shook her head vehemently. "It might be the right result, but he was still my husband. I can't watch that."

"Draco?" Kingsley asked, turning to the younger Malfoy.

Draco hesitated in his response. He knew he really should witness his father's punishment, but he wasn't sure he could actually do it. While Draco hated Lucius for everything he had put him through and for the coldness he had grown up with, at the end of the day Lucius was still his father and there was a small part of him that did still hold some sort of affection for him.

"I'll do it." Severus offered. "Narcissa, Draco, you two stay here and I'll go."

"We can't ask you to do that, Severus." Narcissa protested, holding onto Severus hand in an attempt to stop him from leaving.

"You're not asking, Cissa, I'm offering." Severus replied, removing his hand from Narcissa's grasp and stroking it lovingly down her cheek. "I'll not be long."

Draco watched the interaction between his mother and godfather with a smile on his face. The pair had always been quite close and from what he was witnessing their friendship had blossomed into something more substantial.

"How long have you and Severus been involved?" Draco asked, once Kingsley and Severus had left the room.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking the questions?" Narcissa questioned her son. "After all you just up and left for two years and I never heard a word from you."

"I'm sorry, it was too dangerous to contact you." Draco apologised, knowing how much he had hurt Narcissa. "I didn't want to risk your life, I hate to think what father would have done if he thought you knew where I was."

Narcissa nodded understandingly. If Lucius had suspected she knew of Draco's whereabouts she would have suffered until she gave her son up.

"I promise I'll fill you in on everything." Draco continued. "But maybe we should wait until Severus returns and go somewhere more private."

"That's a good idea." Narcissa replied. "And to answer your earlier question, my relationship with Severus is a fairly recent development. We got closer after you left, but with Lucius around we didn't dare act on our feelings."

"Does this mean you're a couple now?" Draco asked, wanting to make sure he wasn't misinterpreting the situation.

"Yes. I've moved into his cottage and now your father is no longer an issue we'll be looking for somewhere new to live." Narcissa answered. "Do you have a problem with any of that?"

Draco quickly shook his head and smiled at his mother. "I'm just pleased you have someone who deserves you and who'll treat you with respect. I'm really pleased for you and Severus."

"Thank you, Draco. It means a lot that you're supporting us." Narcissa smiled, giving Draco another hug.

The two Malfoy's were still hugging when the door opened and a paler than normal Severus entered the room. The experience had clearly affected him and Narcissa left Draco to wrap her lover in her arms.

"Are you okay?" Narcissa asked softly.

"I'm fine. I'm just pleased neither you nor Draco were there." Severus responded. "But it's over now, Lucius is out of our lives for good."

"If that's the case then I suggest we go home." Narcissa said. "Draco's coming with us and the three of us are going to have a nice, long talk."

Severus nodded and together the three left the room and headed to the main body of the Ministry. Once in the atrium they flooed to Severus's pokey cottage, where Narcissa made some tea and they all settled down in the front room to talk.

"Where should I begin?" Draco asked once everyone was seated and the attention was on him.

"Unless you were lying in court, we know why you decided to leave." Severus said. "So I suppose the main question is why you left without saying a word? Surely you knew I would have helped you in any way I could."

"I know that." Draco nodded. "And I wanted to tell you both what I was doing, but in the end I decided it was safer I acted in secret."

"Why?" Narcissa questioned. "We could have helped you so much, it must have been so hard for you all alone."

"Like I said earlier, I didn't want you in the firing line once I was gone. I knew father would be able to tell if you knew where I was and I was worried about what he would have done to you in order to gain the information he wanted." Draco told his mother, before turning to his godfather. "And Severus, I didn't tell you because you already had so much to hide from Voldemort. I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if you put yourself in danger while protecting my secrets."

Narcissa and Severus both nodded, each of them understanding Draco's reasons for not confiding in them. Over the last two years they had both worried that Draco hadn't trusted them enough to tell them about his plans, but now they knew he was just doing what he thought best in order to protect them.

"What happened while you were away?" Narcissa asked. "It must have been hard to remain undetected. I know for a fact your father was scouring the whole wizarding world for you."

"I suspected he would be doing that, so I looked for a job with a private firm. I ended up working for a potions company, and I really loved the job. The money wasn't great, but we got by."

"We?" Narcissa immediately picked up on Draco's choice of words.

"Yes, we." Draco nodded, preparing to tell his mother and godfather about the rest of his life. "Me, my fiancée and our daughter."

Severus and Narcissa both looked at Draco in shock for several minutes. They'd imagined a lot of things regarding his life but they had never considered he would return with a fiancée and child.

"I have to admit I'm surprised." Narcissa said finally. "Two years is a very short space of time to meet someone, get engaged and have a child."

"We didn't meet in Australia." Draco admitted. "We were together before that, we left together."

"If you had a girlfriend, why did you never mention her?" Narcissa asked, wondering what else she didn't know about Draco.

"She's a muggleborn." Draco replied, watching as Severus's eyes widened as he realised who Draco was talking about. "I knew father wouldn't approve, but I'm hoping you'll not have a problem with her."

"I'm not going to lie Draco, it'll take some adjusting to. True, I'm not as rigid in your father with my beliefs, but I was still raised to believe muggleborns are beneath me." Narcissa told her son. "But I promise as long as you're happy, I'll support you and your fiancée."

"Thank you mother." Draco smiled at his mother before turning to his still shocked godfather. "Severus, are you alright?"

"I'm just kicking myself for not spotting it sooner." Severus admitted. "Now I know it's so obvious. Your behaviour that last year, it makes so much sense now. Draco, I'm sorry, if I'd known I would have stopped the gossip."

"What is going on?" Narcissa demanded, looking between her son and lover. "What am I missing?"

"I know who Draco's fiancée is." Severus answered, after Draco gave him the nod to reply. "In Draco's sixth year a witch in his year got pregnant. She refused to name the father and in the end she left school, partly due to the horrible gossip she was subjected to."

"That's terrible." Narcissa gasped, reaching over and grasping Draco's hands in her own. "And you had to sit by and do nothing. That must have been so hard for you, Draco."

"It was, but it was much harder for her, she was the one enduring the nasty gossip and innuendoes. She suffered more than me, I just had to keep my mouth shut and try not to react. I hate to think what would have happened if father had found out." Draco replied.

Narcissa shuddered at the thought and quickly brushed the horrible images from her head. "Let's not dwell on that. Who is this girl?"

"Her name's Hermione Granger." Draco answered, unable to stop himself from smiling slightly at the mention of his fiancée.

"Hermione Granger, why is that name so familiar?" Narcissa asked, trying to think of where she had heard the name before.

"Hermione is Harry Potter's best friend." Severus supplied.

"Was. She was his best friend, not anymore." Draco snapped, a trace of anger lacing his voice. "Potter and Weasley treated her terribly when she was pregnant, she's no longer their friend."

"I take it that means they have no idea where she went." Severus said.

"No." Draco shook his head. "Once she left school they never bothered with her. They never once wrote to her, or to her parents to even check she was okay."

"How do you know they haven't been in contact with the Grangers?" Narcissa asked.

"Because we've been in contact with them the entire time." Draco replied. "In fact Hermione's parents helped us emigrate and settle into our new lives. They stayed with us until after Hermione had the baby, and even then they only left because they had lives back here."

"I'm pleased you had someone to support you, I only wish it had been me." Narcissa sighed, sad that she had missed so much of her son's life.

"I've got you now." Draco told his mother. "And Hermione and I would love you to be a part of our lives. Now father's not an issue we're hoping to settle down here and it would be brilliant if Lyra had a second set of grandparents."

"Lyra." Narcissa gasped, recognising the name as belonging to a constellation. "You've followed the Black family tradition."

"Yes, we have." Draco smiled. "I hope you approve."

"I do." Narcissa smiled, wiping away a few happy tears that were threatening to fall. "You know I considered that name for you when I was pregnant, if you were a girl of course."

"I remember you telling me years ago. But actually it's just a coincidence, Hermione picked the name. She said it was one of her favourites."

"Talking of Hermione, when do we get to meet her?" Narcissa asked. "And my beautiful granddaughter of course. I can't wait to meet them both."

"I can set something up fairly quickly." Draco replied. "I'm sure Lyra will be thrilled to have two new grandparents to spoil her rotten."

"Two?" Severus questioned. "Are you including me?"

Draco nodded at his godfather. "Unless you don't want to be included. But I figured you've been more of a father to me than Lucius ever was and I reckon you'll be a great grandfather to Lyra."

"I'd be honoured to be her grandfather." Severus said, nodding sharply to hide how affected he was by Draco's gesture.

"Great." Draco beamed. "I have to be off now, but I'll be in touch and we can arrange a meeting for us all."

After saying goodbye to his mother and godfather, Draco left the small cottage to return home. Behind him he left an ecstatic couple who spent hours discussing their new roles as grandparents.


	18. Chapter 18

It was just after Sunday Lunch at the Granger's house and Hermione was trying to wrangle Lyra into a clean dress. The two year old had dribbled gravy all down the purple number she was wearing, but it was her favourite dress and she didn't want to change. Being as stubborn as both her parents the two year old was refusing to let Hermione change her. The little girl was currently sitting in the middle of her bedroom with her arms clamped tightly to her sides.

"No, no, no." Lyra chanted as Hermione tried to coax her out of her dress.

"But this dress is pretty." Hermione said, holding up a pale pink dress. "Don't you want to look pretty for your nana and grandpa?"

Lyra merely shook her head stubbornly and refused to budge. Hermione sighed in defeat as she pulled out her wand. She would rather Lyra wear fresh clothes, but if she was going to be stubborn then she would have to make do with magically cleaning the dress she was wearing. Waving her wand Hermione cleaned up her daughter, who instantly cheered up once she realised she had gotten her own way.

"Yeah, mummy." Lyra cheered, pulling herself to her feet and toddling over to where Hermione was perched on the edge of the bed.

"You're a spoilt little girl." Hermione sighed, picking up her daughter and giving her a kiss. "It's a good job, I love you."

"Love you, mummy." Lyra grinned, placing a sloppy kiss on Hermione's cheek.

Hermione smiled at the little girl as she carried her from the bedroom and downstairs. Once downstairs she left Lyra in the front room with her parents, while she went to get changed herself. Draco had left to go and get his mother and godfather and Hermione wanted to make a good impression on her fiancé's family.

Hermione was nervous enough about meeting Narcissa, but adding her former Potions Professor into the mix was just making things harder. Hermione had no objections to letting Severus be a part of Lyra's life, but she'd always thought the Head of Slytherin hated her and she was nervous about socialising with him. Draco had assured Hermione that Severus hadn't had a problem with Hermione personally, he just disliked Gryffindors, but that hadn't eased her nerves any.

After getting changed and straightening herself out Hermione returned to the front room. She'd barely sat down when the front door opened and she heard Draco's voice. Lyra had also heard her father and by the time Draco entered the room with his mother and godfather the little girl was ready to pounce.

"Daddy, daddy." Lyra called, holding her arms out for Draco to pick her up.

Draco swooped down and picked Lyra up, swinging her as he did so causing her to giggle uncontrollably. Narcissa watched her son and granddaughter in amazement, her delight clear for the whole room to see.

"Mother, Severus, this is Lyra." Draco said to the couple standing beside him. "Lyra, this is your Nana Cissa and Grandpa Severus."

"Hello, Lyra." Narcissa smiled at her granddaughter.

Lyra briefly smiled back before burying her head in Draco's shoulder. Every now and again the little girl would lift her head and look at Narcissa and Severus, before retreating to the safety of her father.

"She's just shy around new people. By the end of the afternoon, she'll be fine." Draco explained. "But now, I want to introduce you to Hermione."

Hermione stood up and joined Draco as he made the formal introductions to his mother and godfather.

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione." Narcissa smiled.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs Malfoy. Draco's spoken a lot about you." Hermione replied, immediately taking a liking her fiancé's mother.

"Please call me Narcissa. We are family after all." Narcissa told her future daughter-in-law.

Hermione nodded politely at Narcissa before turning to Severus. "Hello, Professor Snape."

"We're not in school anymore, I think Severus is fine." Severus chuckled. "Besides, I'm not a Professor anymore."

"What? Why?" Draco asked.

"I've retired." Severus answered. "I want to spend my time with Narcissa and my new family."

Narcissa smiled at Severus, clearly happy that he wouldn't be spending the majority of his year up in Scotland. Draco was also pleased that he would have Severus around more as they settled back in England.

"Narcissa, Severus, I want you to meet my parents, Richard and Jean Granger." Hermione said, making the final introductions of the afternoon.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Narcissa said as the four older adults shook hands. "I want to thank you both for taking such great care of Draco. Given the situation, I'm not sure many people would have been so accommodating."

"Draco proved himself to be a fine young man when he stood by Hermione." Jean said, smiling at her daughter's fiancé. "A lot of boys in his situation would have just left Hermione to fend for herself."

"Luckily that wasn't the case, so we had no problems welcoming Draco to the family." Richard added.

"Now we've all be introduced, I think I'll go and make some tea." Jean said as she stood up. "Narcissa, Severus, please feel free to take a seat."

As Jean headed off to make the tea, Narcissa and Severus settled down on one of the sofas. Hermione and Draco also sat down and Draco put Lyra back down onto the floor to play. For a while Lyra clung onto Draco, peeking around his legs at Narcissa and Severus. However by the time Jean returned with the tea the little girl had settled herself back on the floor and resumed playing with her dolls.

"She's gorgeous." Narcissa commented, watching her granddaughter closely. "She's such a perfect combination of the pair of you."

"The only problem is they're both pretty stubborn and Lyra has inherited that from both parents." Richard chuckled, smiling at his granddaughter as she paused to wave at him. "So needless to say, at times she's a right terror."

"I never would have guessed." Severus smirked, knowing just how stubborn his godson and his fiancée could be.

"Has she displayed any sign of magic yet?" Narcissa asked.

"She can summon things, like her teddies, if she gets upset and last week during a tantrum at dinner she blew up the potatoes." Draco replied. "Not to mention every time we try and get her to eat carrots she turns them multi-coloured and laughs at them."

"It sounds like you have quite a handful there." Narcissa smiled. "It also sounds like she's going to be quite the impressive witch when she's older."

"I think so." Hermione said, looking proudly at her daughter. "She's already so clever for her age."

For the next half hour or so the conversation revolved around Lyra. Hermione got out some pictures of Lyra when she was younger and sorted a pile for Narcissa to take home with her. Narcissa was extremely grateful for the pictures spanning the two years of her granddaughter's life she had missed.

After a while the conversation drifted to Draco and Hermione and what they had been doing in Australia. It was only when Draco mentioned trying to find a new job in the potions area that Narcissa told him something she thought he already knew. With Lucius gone, Draco inherited the Malfoy family business and the Manor.

"How can I inherit?" Draco asked, after his mother had informed him of the news. "Surely father cut me from his will when I left."

"He wanted to, but he couldn't." Narcissa explained. "He spread the rumours that you'd joined Voldemort to give himself time to find you, before anyone outside of the family discovered you were missing. Once he did that he couldn't cut you out of his will without arousing suspicion."

"Why didn't he change his will before Voldemort's downfall?" Hermione questioned. "From what I read Voldemort went into the battle with Dumbledore knowing it was life or death."

"Like many of Voldemort's supporters, Lucius was too arrogant to even consider that he would fail." Severus answered. "I'm sure if he thought for one minute that the battle wouldn't go their way he would have changed his will."

"If he'd known, he probably would have cut me out of it as well." Narcissa said quietly. "As it is though, you inherit the business and the Manor and I have a few of the smaller properties and more money than I'll ever need."

"Are you going to use one of the properties to live in?" Draco asked, knowing his mother and Severus wanted somewhere new to live.

"No, I'm going to sell them all. We want somewhere new, which has no associations with your father." Narcissa answered. "We're going to take enough of the money to buy a small house and keep enough to live on, then we're putting the rest in the bank for Lyra."

"You really don't have to do that." Hermione protested.

"We do." Narcissa insisted. "We're not going to run ourselves short, but we want Lyra to have a secure future. It won't hurt her to have some money behind her for when she's older."

"Thank you, we really appreciate it." Hermione smiled.

"And what about you, Draco?" Severus asked, noticing his godson had remained fairly quiet about the news he was to inherit the family business and home. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Draco admitted. "I never for one moment thought I would get a chance to run the family business. I guess I need to think it over a bit."

"I don't suppose there's any rush." Narcissa commented. "The business has been running just fine since your father was arrested. I think he has a team of people running the various operations and things."

"Well if I do keep the business, they'll all go." Draco said. "Half of father's business is dirty, and I want no part of that."

"You could change all that." Hermione told her fiancé. "If you took over you could get rid of all the bad businesses and build on the good ones. You could create something special."

"Do you think so?" Draco asked. He was honestly worried that he wouldn't be able to run his father's empire as he was still so young and inexperienced in the business world.

"I think you can do anything you set your mind on." Hermione smiled. "If you want to turn your father's business into something good, you will."

"I'll definitely think about it." Draco nodded. "But one thing I don't need to think about is the Manor. I want nothing to do with that place, it holds nothing but bad memories."

Narcissa nodded in agreement with her son. Despite living at the Manor for nearly twenty years she had been so relieved to escape the dark, dreary Manor after Lucius's arrest. Her husband had dominated the large house and his icy presence was palpable in every single room of the place.

As if sensing the atmosphere in the room was more serious, Lyra chose that moment to make her presence felt. All the adults had been watching her off and on, but they all watched as she made a drama of getting to her feet and grabbing her favourite doll. Trotting over to where Narcissa and Severus were sitting the two year old held out the doll.

"Play, dollies?" She asked, looking at Narcissa expectantly.

"I'd love to." Narcissa beamed, helping the young girl climb up onto the sofa with her and Severus.

Lyra settled nicely in between her new grandparents and began entertaining them with her dolls. The longer she was on the sofa the chattier she became and after half an hour she was gabbling non-stop and singing at the top of her little voice.

By the time Narcissa and Severus were ready to leave Lyra was totally enamoured with her new grandparents and she was sad to see them go. Luckily by this point it was very obvious that Narcissa and Severus were going to be a regular part of their lives and Lyra now had two sets of doting grandparents.


	19. Chapter 19

Closing Lyra's bedroom door slightly, Hermione left her sleeping two year old and headed off to the master bedroom. It had been just over a month since the end of Lucius's trial and things had changed dramatically for the small family since then.

Hermione and Draco had found a modest little house, not far from Hermione's parents, and they had just moved in a few days earlier. Draco had officially taken over his father's company and at the minute he was trying to work out what to keep and what to sell. On top of all that the couple had finally set a date for their wedding.

Draco had proposed to Hermione practically as soon as he arrived in Australia, but they had put off actually getting married because they weren't sure how long they were going to be in Australia. Not to mention that Draco really wanted his mother present at the wedding and until now that just wasn't possible. However now Narcissa and Severus were a part of their lives the couple saw no reason to delay the happy event any longer.

Entering the bedroom, Hermione found Draco sitting on the bed with papers from the business scattered all over the covers.

"Is she asleep?" Draco asked as Hermione entered the bedroom.

Hermione nodded as she perched on the edge of the bed. "After three stories."

"You should have said no to more after you'd read her one." Draco said, as he continued to look at the papers spread over the bed.

"You're a fine one to talk, as if you can say no to her." Hermione snorted, knowing Draco indulged their daughter far more than she did.

"That's why I didn't tuck her in." Draco chuckled as he gathered up his papers and began tidying them away. "You're supposed to be the tough one."

"It turns out when it comes to her, or you for that matter, I'm not very tough." Hermione replied. "You can both wrap me around your little fingers."

"I'd rather have you wrapped around another part of my anatomy." Draco remarked with a smirk.

Hermione chuckled as she climbed fully onto the bed and straddled Draco. "And what would you rather have me wrapped around?" She purred, placing feather light kisses on her fiancé's cheek.

"I'll show you." Draco said, claiming Hermione's lips in a heated kiss.

As the couple kissed Draco quickly divested Hermione of her shirt and jeans. The couple had just began on undressing Draco when a tapping noise interrupted them. Hermione lifted her head from Draco's neck to find an owl perched outside the bedroom window, tapping its beak on the glass.

"It's an owl." She said, wriggling out of Draco's grip and getting off the bed.

"Whoever it is, I'm going to bloody kill them." Draco grumbled as he finished undressing by himself. Once they had dealt with the letter he fully intended on picking up where they had just left off.

While Draco was moaning Hermione had let the owl in and removed the letter attached to its foot. Once she had the letter the owl settled down on the window sill, obviously awaiting a reply.

"Well who is it?" Draco called, unwilling to leave the bed.

"I haven't opened it yet." Hermione tutted, even though she recognised the neat handwriting immediately.

Tearing open the letter Hermione quickly read the contents, before pulling a piece of parchment from her bedside table and writing a quick response. After attaching the letter to the owl the bird left the bedroom and Hermione closed the window behind it.

"Are you going to tell me who you're writing to or is it a secret?" Draco asked as Hermione settled back on the bed next to him.

"The letter was from Professor McGonagall." Hermione answered.

"Why is Professor McGonagall writing to you?" Draco questioned.

"I wrote to her last week." Hermione explained. "I just wanted to thank her in person for her support back in school."

"Does that mean you're meeting up with her then?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I'm going to Hogsmeade tomorrow afternoon." Hermione nodded. "I just want her to know how much I appreciated everything she did for me."

"Are you taking Lyra with you?"

"I don't know." Hermione sighed. "I'm thinking of asking your mother to look after her. I haven't quite decided yet."

"I'm sure mother will jump at the chance to look after Lyra for a few hours." Draco remarked.

"I'm sure she will, but I'll worry about that in the morning." Hermione said, ending the conversation and smiling softly at Draco. "Now weren't you about to show me something?"

"Hmm, yes. I was about to wrap you around something that's not my finger."

Draco grinned at Hermione, before pouncing on her and pinning her to the bed. Within minutes the couple had shed their remaining clothing and Hermione was soon wrapped around something that was definitely not Draco's finger.

* * *

...

* * *

"Thank you so much for this, Hermione." Narcissa gushed at her future daughter-in-law. "I promise we'll take good care of her."

"I know you will." Hermione replied with a smile. "I'll only be a few hours."

"Take as long as you want." Narcissa replied.

Hermione smiled at Narcissa's eagerness to babysit as she said her goodbyes. Hermione was off to Hogsmeade to meet Professor McGonagall and she had decided against taking Lyra with her. Instead she had dropped her daughter off at Narcissa and Severus's cottage and left the grandparents to take care of the two year old for a few hours.

After leaving the cottage, Hermione apparated to Hogsmeade. Walking through the quiet streets Hermione was struck by how different the village was without the Hogwarts students wandering around. School was actually due back in a few days and Hermione knew that in a few weeks Hogsmeade would be an entirely different place as it would be teeming with students.

Making her way to The Three Broomsticks, Hermione let her mind wander to the past. She'd had some good times in Hogsmeade with her friends and despite her best efforts she was feeling awfully sentimental as she entered the familiar pub. A quick glance around showed Professor McGonagall hadn't arrived yet so Hermione went to the bar and got herself a drink.

"I haven't seen you in a long time." Madam Rosmerta commented as she got Hermione her drink.

"I haven't been here in a long time." Hermione replied. She was guessing that Madam Rosmerta knew all about her pregnancy while she was still in school, after all the students at the time would have undoubtedly been talking about her in the village and news tended to spread quickly in small communities.

Taking her drink, Hermione settled into a corner table to wait for Professor McGonagall. She didn't have to wait long as she was barely seated when the door opened and her former head of house entered the pub. McGonagall acknowledged Hermione with a quick wave before she got herself a drink and joined her former pupil.

"Hermione, it's lovely to see you." McGonagall said, giving Hermione a hug before settling down opposite her.

"It's nice to see you as well, Professor." Hermione replied with a smile, genuinely pleased to see her favourite Professor.

"We're not in school now, Hermione. Call me Minerva." McGonagall told the younger witch. "Now, how have you been?"

"I've been really good actually." Hermione answered. "I really just wanted to speak to you and thank you for everything you did for me before I left Hogwarts. I don't think I would have even made it until Christmas if I hadn't had your room to hide in on a lunchtime."

"I'm just sorry things were so bad you needed to hide." McGonagall sighed, remembering the awful torment Hermione had been put through by her so called friends. "I'm also sorry that your friends didn't support you. I'm assuming you're not in touch with them."

"I haven't spoken to Harry and Ron since before I left school, and to be honest I don't think I want to speak to them again." Hermione replied.

"What about the father, if you don't mind me asking. Did he support you back then and what about now?" McGonagall said warily, clearly unsure of what sort of reaction she would get from Hermione.

"The father always supported me. We're still together and we're getting married in October." Hermione smiled, showing her old Professor her modest but beautiful engagement ring.

"That's wonderful, Hermione." McGonagall beamed, thrilled everything had turned out well for the young witch. "And what about the baby, they'll be two now won't they?"

"Lyra turned two just over a month ago." Hermione said. "I have a few pictures of her on my phone if you want to see."

"I'd love to."

Hermione fished around in her bag until she found her phone. Flicking through the hundreds of images of her daughter she found a picture of Lyra on her birthday. The little girl was sitting with her birthday cake and her new doll, beaming toothily for the camera.

"There you go, that's Lyra." Hermione said, handing the muggle device to McGonagall.

McGonagall took the phone off Hermione and smiled at the sight of the gorgeous blond girl. "She's beautiful."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled, watching as McGonagall continued to study the picture.

McGonagall studied the picture for several minutes before handing the phone back to Hermione. "I'm guessing her father is Draco Malfoy."

"Is it that obvious?" Hermione asked. Personally she could see a lot of Draco in her daughter, but Hermione had always figured it was because she knew of their connection.

"I've only ever seen hair that blond on Malfoy's, not to mention her pale complexion. Although she does have your eyes." McGonagall remarked. "And I can see now why you wouldn't tell us the identity of the father."

"It wasn't that I didn't trust you, I just knew if you and Professor Dumbledore had known about Draco you would have had to inform his parents. We couldn't risk Lucius finding out about us."

"I hate to think what he might have done, if he'd known." McGonagall said. "I take it now he's gone that Narcissa knows she has a granddaughter."

"Yes, that's where Lyra is now. No doubt Narcissa and Severus are spoiling her rotten."

"Severus? So the rumours are true, he's living with Narcissa Malfoy."

Hermione had to chuckle at the surprise on the older witches face, obviously she hadn't believed the rumours surrounding the former Potions Professor.

"Yes, they're very happy together." Hermione replied.

"Good." McGonagall smiled as she nodded her head thoughtfully. "Severus is a good man, he deserves some happiness. As do you, and I'm very happy everything has worked out for you."

"I guess I am pretty lucky." Hermione smiled. "I've got a beautiful daughter and a brilliant fiancé, and hopefully once things have settled down a bit I can look into starting my business."

"What sort of business are you looking to start?" McGonagall asked.

Hermione told McGonagall all about her plans and the two women sat talking for over three hours. Eventually Hermione had to leave to pick Lyra up from her grandparents. Before leaving Hermione invited Professor McGonagall to her wedding and she vowed to keep in touch more regularly and keep her up to date on both her family and her business.

Hermione visit with McGonagall had brought a smile to her face and when Draco returned home that night he was confronted with two happy witches. The talk with McGonagall had inspired Hermione to look more closely at her business plan and start making serious plans, while Lyra was ecstatic after spending the afternoon been spoilt at her grandparents' house.

"It looks like someone had a good afternoon." Draco commented as he sat beside Hermione and Lyra clambered up onto his knee.

"We did. Someone got spoilt and I got inspired." Hermione replied. "I've made a decision, by the end of the year I'm going to have my shop."

"I might be able to help there." Draco remarked. "But you'll have to wait until next week before I'll say anymore." He added quickly when Hermione opened her mouth to question him.

"Spoilsport." Hermione stuck her tongue out at Draco, causing Lyra to laugh and copy her mother by sticking her little tongue out at her father.

"I promise you'll not be saying that next week." Draco said. "Next week, you'll love me so much."

Hermione smiled before giving Draco a quick kiss. "I already love you so much."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N – Thanks for all the reviews, I'm pleased so many people are enjoying the story. I know a lot of people are looking forward to Hermione's friends discovering the truth, but there's quite a few chapters until that I'm afraid. I am however contemplating a sequel, which will involve Harry and Ron a lot more and deal with how they react to Hermione and Draco. It is just an idea at this stage, but hopefully by the end of the story I'll be able to say one way or another if it's going to happen.**

* * *

Hermione was in the kitchen working on her recipe ideas when she heard the floo network sound and a minute later Draco appeared in the doorway.

"What are you doing back so early?" Hermione asked, as she sliced a block of brownies into smaller portions.

It wasn't even lunch time and she hadn't been expecting her fiancé to appear back at home. On his way to work he had dropped Lyra off at her parents' house because Hermione was planning on spending the morning in the kitchen and later that afternoon she was meeting up with Luna. Hermione had kept in touch with Luna since leaving school, but today's meeting was the first in person between the two witches and it would also be the first time Luna discovered who Hermione was involved with.

"I've got something to show you." Draco replied as he entered the kitchen, his hand reaching for the plate of freshly baked brownies. "Oh, lovely, brownies."

"You might not want to..." Hermione said, stopping as she realised Draco had already stuffed the bite sized treat into his mouth.

"Might not want to what?" Draco asked, swallowing the mouthful of brownie. "Those are delicious by the way."

"Thanks, but you might not be so keen on the side effect." Hermione chuckled, watching as Draco's pale skin slowly began to glitter.

As well as ordinary baking Hermione liked to spice things up with adding magical extras to her goodies, something she was hoping would give her business a unique identity. The brownies she had just baked contained a small portion of glitter dust, causing whoever ingested it to sparkle. Hermione had made the brownies with Lyra in mind, knowing her daughter would love to glitter like a magical fairy.

"Damn, did these have one of your little extras in?" Draco asked. "What do they do?"

"Take a look in a mirror." Hermione replied as she tried to fight back her laughter at the sight of her fiancé.

Draco turned to find a mirror and when he did he caught sight of his hand. Stopping in his tracks he held up his hand and looked aghast at his sparkling skin. It looked like he had been rolling in glitter and was now sparkling with various shades of silver and gold.

"I'm bloody sparkling." Draco muttered. "Please tell me it's just my hand."

Instead of responding Hermione merely laughed at her fiancé. Draco glared at Hermione before rushing out of the room and into the front hallway where there was a mirror hanging beside the front door. Hermione followed Draco and stood watching as he looked at himself in the mirror and realised the sparkling was all over his body.

"I look like a complete idiot." Draco spluttered. "No self-respecting wizard wants to sparkle like a bloody fairy."

"It's only temporary, like all my charms." Hermione laughed as Draco tried unsuccessfully to cast a glamour charm to hide the sparkling.

"How long's temporary?" Draco asked, putting his wand away as his spell wasn't counteracting Hermione's charm in any way.

"I think about ten minutes." Hermione shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

"Well we can wait and see here." Draco grumbled as the couple returned to the kitchen. "I'm not leaving the house looking like this."

"Why are we leaving the house? Why don't you just show me whatever you want to show me here?" Hermione questioned.

"Because I don't have it with me." Draco retorted. "We have to go to your surprise."

"You have remembered I'm going out with Luna this afternoon, haven't you?" Hermione asked, wanting to be sure her surprise wouldn't clash with her meeting with her friend.

"Yeah, I've remembered." Draco nodded. "You can meet her as planned, I won't take up too much of your time."

"That's good, I would hate to let Luna down. I'm actually looking forward to seeing her, writing to each other just isn't the same as actually talking in person."

Draco nodded, only half listening as he kept examining his hands. He was sure the sparkling was beginning to die down but he wasn't leaving the house until all traces of glitter were removed from his skin.

Five minutes later the charm had completely faded and the couple got ready to leave the house. Since Draco refused to tell her where they were going Hermione had to let her fiancé apparate them to their destination.

Hermione was completely baffled when they landed and she found herself standing in the middle of a deserted shop. From the looks of the shelves it looked to be a former apothecary shop of some sorts. Hermione looked around the shop for a minute before heading over to one of the windows. Looking outside she found herself looking at Diagon Alley, from the looks of things the shop was just over the street from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Feeling a pang of sadness at the sight of the shop ran by the fun-loving Weasley twins, Hermione turned back to Draco.

"I'm confused, why are we here?"

"It's yours." Draco said, gesturing to the space they were standing in. "I thought it would be perfect for your shop. Obviously it needs a lot of work and alternations, but it's a base."

"You've bought me a shop?" Hermione asked, touched by the gesture.

"Technically it was owned by father's company, but the whole thing was a front for illegal trading so I shut it down. I figured rather than selling the shop, I could sign it over to you." Draco explained. "Of course, if you don't like it we can find somewhere else."

"I love it." Hermione gushed, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck. "And I love you. It's brilliant, I can't wait to start planning."

Draco chuckled at Hermione's enthusiasm as he gave her a quick kiss. "I hope I get a reward for my gift."

"What sort of reward were you hoping for?" Hermione smirked, knowing Draco would be hoping for something sexual.

"For a start I was thinking about the glitter charm you had in the brownies. I bet you'd look good all sparkly and naked." Draco grinned, picturing Hermione sparkling on their bed.

"I'm sure I can manage that." Hermione chuckled. "And I'm sure I can come up with a few other ways of showing my gratitude."

"I'm sure you can, you are pretty resourceful." Draco replied. "Now as much as I would love to stay here and receive the first burst of your gratitude, I really have to get back to work. I can get the paperwork in motion and you can officially set up the business, all you need is a name."

* * *

...

* * *

After parting ways with Draco at the shop, Hermione spent the next couple of hours brainstorming names for the shop. In all her planning of opening a magical cake shop with a small café attached she had never once considered names for the place. Hermione suspected she'd never considered names as up until this point the shop was merely a dream, whereas now it was a reality. As of today she had a business to set up.

Hermione was still engrossed in her thinking as she set off to meet Luna. Luna had suggested a meeting in a small café, near to where she lived. Since Luna still lived close to the Burrow, Hermione had been worried about bumping into any of the Weasley's but she soon discovered the café was in a muggle village, therefore the risk was much more minimal. The only Weasley's they might bump into would be the twins, as they had been known to frequent the muggle village, but Hermione suspected they were both at work in the shop.

Luna was already at the café when Hermione arrived and she waved enthusiastically as she spotted Hermione entering the building. Hermione smiled at Luna's excitement as she went over to her friend and greeted her with a hug.

"Hello, Luna. You look great." Hermione smiled at the younger witch.

Luna's appearance was still slightly eccentric, but it was much more toned down and Hermione could immediately tell how much Luna had matured. What hadn't changed about her however was her open, friendly nature as she beamed excitedly at Hermione.

"Hermione, you look great as well." Luna replied. "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, I'm just sorry it's taken so long to meet up." Hermione said as she settled into the seat opposite Luna.

"I guess that was my fault." Luna chuckled. "You did write weeks ago."

"I hardly expected you to cancel your holiday." Hermione remarked. "How was it by the way?"

As Luna filled Hermione in on her recent holiday a waitress came over and took their orders. Both witches ordered coffee and Luna ordered a slice of cherry cake. Once their drinks had arrived the subject turned to the reason they hadn't seen each other for so many years.

"Are you back for good?" Luna asked. In all her letters from Hermione she had gotten the impression that she had left the country but in the last letter it sounded as though she had recently returned home.

"Yes, we've bought a house and we're getting married in October." Hermione said. "And I would love you to come to the wedding and meet my daughter."

"I would love to come, but do I not get to find out who the groom is?" Luna asked.

Unlike everyone else who thought Hermione had been dumped by the baby's father, Luna had always known he had stood by her. However she didn't have a clue as to who he was as Hermione had been very careful not to refer to him by name in her correspondence. Luna couldn't even guess from the students who failed to return to school the year after Hermione left as there were several people missing and more left every week. By the time Voldemort was finally defeated, weeks before Luna graduated a couple of months ago, the school population was pretty depleted.

"I'm marrying Draco Malfoy."

Hermione watched Luna closely as she told her the identity of her fiancé. Hermione was pleased that Luna didn't react in a negative way, she initially looked shocked but then she got a thoughtful look on her face. For a few minutes Hermione watched as Luna digested the news.

"I can certainly understand why you kept quiet." Luna said eventually. "It would have been so dangerous for the pair of you if anyone had known. Not to mention your lovely daughter."

"I'm so pleased you understand." Hermione said, relieved that Luna didn't seem to resent the fact she'd kept quiet about Draco. "I really wanted to tell you, but I couldn't risk anyone accidentally seeing the letter and finding out."

"You did the right thing, Hermione." Luna assured her friend. "And it doesn't matter that I'm only just finding out. I know now and I'm very happy for the pair of you."

"Thanks Luna." Hermione smiled, before turning more serious. "Although I'm sure there's a few people who won't approve."

"Who cares what anyone else thinks." Luna snorted. She'd never been one to worry about other people's opinions of her and she thought that life would be much easier if other people thought the same way. "Or are you thinking about certain people's opinions? Your old friends, perhaps?"

Hermione looked at Luna in surprise, shocked by how astute she had been. While Hermione had no desire to see her former friends, she had to admit she was curious as to what they would think of her relationship. Mainly though she wondered if they would feel bad for judging her and calling her names, when she was in a serious relationship all along.

"You really shouldn't worry about them, Hermione." Luna remarked. "After you left school Ginny and Lavender were amongst the most vocal in calling you names and gossiping about you. And as far as I saw Harry and Ron never once tried to stop them or defend you."

"I guess I was just wondering if things changed once I'd gone. Part of me wondered if they regretted their harsh words once I left without a word." Hermione sighed, disappointed her friends had continued to bad mouth her once she had left Hogwarts.

"If they did they never showed it. Although if they regret anything now, I wouldn't know. I haven't seen Harry and Ron since they left school last year and I haven't since Ginny since we left school in July." Luna replied. "Anyway, enough about them. I want to hear about you and your life."

"Well I've already told you I'm getting married and you know all about Lyra. But something exciting happened this morning." Hermione grinned as she began telling Luna all about her shop and her plans for it.

"That sounds amazing." Luna sighed dreamily. "I love baking, I would kill for a job like yours."

"Why don't you come and join me." Hermione suggested excitedly. "I'm going to need a lot of help getting everything up and running and you would be the perfect manager for the place."

"Are you serious?" Luna asked. "You want me to be involved."

"I'd love you to be involved." Hermione grinned. "You're a pretty creative person, so I'm guessing you can help design the menu and help with the shop. I have a pretty solid idea of where I'm going with both, but a fresh eye is always welcome."

"In that case, I'm in." Luna grinned. "When do I start?"

"How about now? I've got a few hours before I have to pick up Lyra from my parents. Or better yet, why don't we go back to mine and you can try my glitter brownies and then you can meet Lyra and Draco later on." Hermione suggested.

Luna immediately accepted the offer and together the two witches apparated back to Hermione's. Within minutes the ideas were flowing and Hermione knew she had just made a brilliant decision by hiring Luna as her manager.


	21. Chapter 21

For almost a month Hermione and Luna worked non-stop on Hermione's business. Setting up the shop was a lot more hard work than Hermione had anticipated and every day she was grateful for Luna's help. She was even more grateful for the younger witches help when October hit and her thoughts turned to her upcoming wedding. Luckily Hermione also had help with the wedding in the form of her mother and Draco's. Jean and Narcissa took over the bulk of the planning so all Hermione had to do was approve the final details.

Before Hermione knew where she was it was the last week in October and she was preparing to get married. The wedding was taking place in a small hotel, not far from where Narcissa and Severus lived. The ceremony was going to be a short and simple affair, followed by a couple of drinks in the hotel bar. Hermione's parents were then going to take Lyra for the weekend, enabling Hermione and Draco to have a short honeymoon.

On the morning of the wedding Hermione got her hair and make-up done, before making sure Lyra was behaving herself. For once the two year old was behaving perfectly and had let Jean change her into her new dress without any trouble. Lyra was then quite happy to sit on the large bed in the hotel room while Jean and Narcissa helped Hermione into her dress.

"You look lovely, Hermione." Jean told her daughter, once she was wearing her long, cream dress.

"Are you sure it's not to plain?" Hermione asked, examining herself in the mirror.

Personally Hermione loved the dress, but she knew it wasn't the fanciest of wedding dresses. The top of the dress was a fitted bodice while the skirt was long and tight fitting with a slight outwards sweep around the feet. Hermione also had a beaded cream shrug to wear over the bodice.

"It's perfect." Narcissa reassured the young witch. "It's elegant and understated and it suites your perfectly."

"Do you think Draco will like it?" Hermione asked.

"He'll love it." Narcissa smiled. "And what's not to love, you look beautiful."

"Besides we all know he couldn't care less what you were wearing." Jean chuckled. "The boy's crazy about you, you could turn up wearing a hideous dress and he would still think you were the most amazing creature he'd ever laid eyes on."

Hermione smiled at her mother's words, knowing exactly how right they were. Draco had always said she was beautiful, even when she was younger and her hair was a wild mess and she wore her clothes slightly too baggy. In fact Draco had even said she was beautiful when she was in labour with Lyra, which considering she was screaming and yelling at him at the time it was quite a compliment.

"You think mummy looks pretty don't you?" Narcissa asked Lyra as she swept her granddaughter up into her arms and carried her over to Hermione.

Hermione reached out for her daughter and she held her close for several minutes. The entire time she was holding her, Lyra kept stroking Hermione's cheek.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty." Lyra chanted as she snuggled up to Hermione.

"Thank you, princess. You look very pretty too." Hermione said, placing a quick kiss to her daughter's head before handing her to Narcissa. "You go with Nana Cissa and be a good girl."

"She'll be an angel." Narcissa replied as she turned and headed towards the door with her granddaughter.

"Bye, mummy." Lyra waved over Narcissa's shoulder as the two exited the room to go and get their seats for the wedding.

"We better be going as well." Jean said to Hermione.

Hermione nodded and grabbed her bouquet off the table. Together mother and daughter headed down to the small ballroom in which the wedding was taking place. Richard was waiting outside the ballroom to escort Hermione into the room and he confirmed everyone was settled and they were just waiting for the bride.

Jean gave Hermione a quick kiss before slipping into the ballroom and taking her seat. A few seconds later the music started and Richard took hold of Hermione's arm. Richard smiled at his daughter, before opening the doors and walking Hermione towards the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.

As she walked towards Draco, he was the only person Hermione concentrated on. Guests were practically non-existent, the only ones being Richard and Jean, Narcissa and Severus, Luna and Professor McGonagall, and of course Lyra. With so few people in attendance the whole thing felt much more intimate and meaningful to Hermione. Every single person in the room was special to them and Hermione couldn't think of anyone else who she wanted there.

"You look gorgeous." Draco whispered as Richard handed over his daughter before taking his seat next to Jean.

"You don't look too bad yourself." Hermione replied.

Draco grinned at Hermione, but the whispered conversation was put on hold as the ceremony got underway. The first part of the ceremony was muggle like, with the exchanging of vows and wedding rings. The second part used magic to bond the couple together for life.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The minister beamed at the young couple in front of him. "You may now kiss the bride."

Draco smirked wickedly at Hermione, before sweeping her into his arms and giving her a breath-taking kiss. Eventually the couple parted and turned to their assembled guests. Richard and Severus were smirking at the couple's enthusiasm, while Narcissa and Jean were both wiping away tears of joy. McGonagall and Luna were both smiling happily at the couple, while Lyra was wriggling around in Narcissa's arms as she tried to get to her parents.

As Draco and Hermione joined the guests, Narcissa put Lyra down and the two year old toddled over to her parents. Draco immediately picked the little girl up in his arms and showered her with kisses.

"You were a very good girl, Lyra." Draco told his daughter. "Now you can have cake."

"Cake!" Lyra yelled, thrilled at the prospect of her favourite dessert.

"You'll get cake in a bit, sweetheart." Hermione said, smiling at her daughter. "Why don't you go with Auntie Luna and get a drink first."

Since meeting Luna, Lyra had fallen in love with the blonde witch and the feeling was mutual. As much as she could Hermione liked to have Lyra with her when they were working so Luna spent lots of time with the little girl.

As she took Lyra from Draco's arms, Luna congratulated the couple. She then headed off to the bar to get her and Lyra settled in for the reception. Once Luna and Lyra were gone, Hermione turned her attention to her old Transfiguration Professor.

"Thank you so much for coming." She smiled at the older witch. "We really appreciate it."

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world." McGonagall replied. "I'm just sorry I have to leave now. But I want to congratulate you both and I hope you're very happy together. Just remember to keep in touch."

"We will." Draco said, slipping his arm around Hermione's waist.

"That goes for you too, Severus." McGonagall said, turning to her former colleague.

"Don't worry, Minerva, we'll keep in touch." Severus said.

"Good, I do like a good wedding and I would hate to miss yours." McGonagall remarked, smirking as Severus' eyes widened dramatically at the mention of him getting married.

A few people chuckled at Severus's shocked response, knowing full well that the prospect of him and Narcissa getting married was a strong one. Still chuckling at the panic she had caused McGonagall said her goodbyes and left the three couples alone. Richard and Jean and Narcissa and Severus then headed off to the reception.

Before they headed to the bar, Hermione and Draco signed all the paperwork making their marriage official. Once that was sorted they headed to the bar where they joined their friends and family. Despite it being Hermione and Draco's wedding day the undisputed star of the night was Lyra. The two year old was in her element eating cake, being made a fuss of and even occasionally being whirled around the dance floor.

"It's getting late." Jean commented after a couple of hours in the bar. "I think this little one needs her bed." She added, running her hand through Lyra's hair as she sat beside her.

"No." Lyra shook her head stubbornly at the mention of bed. "Want to dance with daddy."

"Fine, one dance then you go home with Nana Jean and Granddad Richard." Draco said, picking Lyra up. "Is mummy coming with us?" He asked, holding his free hand out for Hermione.

"Yeah, dance mummy." Lyra grinned.

Hermione took hold of Draco's hand and the three headed out onto the small dance floor. Draco held Lyra tightly in one arm while he wrapped his other arm around Hermione and pulled her close. Hermione positioned herself so she was also partly holding Lyra, and the couple danced with their daughter. Lyra was thrilled to be twirled around with her parents and she giggled and laughed the entire time. When they returned to the table, Lyra happily settled in Richard's arms and put up no argument when bed was again mentioned.

"Thanks for having her, mum." Hermione said, hugging Jean. "And are you sure about having her all weekend?"

"Of course, you two get away and enjoy yourself." Jean replied.

The plan was for Hermione's parents to have Lyra for the weekend so that Hermione and Draco could have a small honeymoon. After everyone had left the couple were planning on flooing to a private island in the Mediterranean, where they would spend the next two days totally alone on a sun-drenched island.

Once Jean and Richard left with Lyra, Narcissa and Severus soon followed. Luna stayed a bit longer, talking to Hermione about the shop, but then she left and the newlyweds were finally alone.

"Do you want another drink here, or do you want to leave?" Draco asked.

"I think we should leave." Hermione replied. "I'm dying to get out of this dress."

"That makes two of us, I've been dying to get you out of it since the second I saw you this afternoon."

"Good job, you've got such good self-control then." Hermione chuckled as the couple began to leave the bar and head back to the suite they had been occupying for the day.

"My self-control only stretches so far." Draco mumbled as the couple stepped into the lift.

Before Hermione had a chance to ask what Draco meant by that, her husband had her pinned up against the wall of the lift. Luckily the lift was empty as Draco's hands roamed over Hermione's body while his lips ravished her neck.

"Someone might call for the lift." Hermione moaned, her protesting made all the more difficult when Draco's hand slid under her dress and his fingers stroked her silk knickers.

"Let's hope they don't." Draco muttered, his lips not leaving Hermione's neck.

Hermione was about to protest some more when Draco's fingers slid under her knickers and stroked her wetness. Hermione moaned loudly and clung onto Draco's shoulder as his fingers teased her. She could feel how hard he was against her thigh and was seriously considering shagging in the lift when the doors pinged and began to open.

"I think this is our stop." Draco remarked, reluctantly stepping away from Hermione.

Grabbing hold of his wife's hand, Draco pulled Hermione from the lift and the couple made their way to their suite. The second they stepped inside the room Draco had Hermione pinned back up against the wall and his hands once again began to wander. This time however, Hermione stopped her husband before he started anything.

"Not here." She said, pushing Draco away from her. "We've got an entire villa waiting for us and we know we won't be disturbed. For the next three nights, it's just going to be you and me."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Draco asked, grabbing the bags that were pre-packed on the bed.

Walking over to the fire he connected it to the floo network and let Hermione go first. Once Hermione had left, Draco hurried through the connection and disconnected it from the villa. The hotel they had been at had already been paid, and Draco knew once the floo connection was severed that the staff would know the room was vacant again.

"Do you want to explore first?" Hermione asked.

"I want to explore you." Draco said, throwing the bags onto the floor. "We can look at the island tomorrow, right now I want to take you to bed."

"Okay, but we're doing this my way." Hermione said, picking up the bags and heading for the stairs. "First I want a nice bath and to change into something a bit sexier."

"How about we skip the bath and getting changed and just get to the getting naked part." Draco suggested as he followed his wife upstairs.

"No." Hermione shook her head. "This is our wedding night and I want it to be special. I promise I won't be long."

Upon reaching the bedroom Hermione pulled a small purple bag from her travelling bag and disappeared off into the bathroom. Deciding to make the most of his time, Draco magically lit the dozens of candles that were dotted around the room. He then stripped off his clothes and settled onto the bed, wearing nothing but his Slytherin green boxers.

Fifteen minutes after entering the bathroom, Hermione re-emerged. She was wearing a matching emerald and silver lingerie set and she was sparkling all over with silver glitter. When they had tried it the previous month, Draco had liked the effect the glitter brownies had on Hermione so she had mixed a vial of the glitter dust potion for their honeymoon. Unlike the brownies that only lasted ten minutes the glittering this time would last an hour.

"Do you think the delay was worth it now?" Hermione asked, as she walked towards the bed.

"Most definitely." Draco nodded, his eyes roving over his wife's sparkling skin. The candlelight was making the glittering even more pronounced and he was thoroughly enjoying watching the silver flecks shimmering on her smooth skin.

"The spell only lasts an hour, so you might want to do something rather than just stare." Hermione chuckled as she climbed onto the bed. "I thought you might want to check if the potion made all of me sparkle."

"That I want to find out." Draco grinned, grabbing Hermione and pulling her into a deep kiss.

For the next hour Draco explored his sparkling wife in great detail, and found that the potion did indeed make all of her sparkle, including her most intimate areas.


	22. Chapter 22

By the middle of December Hermione's shop was finally starting to take shape. After the shop had been gutted of its original features she'd had a large kitchen and a small office built in the back room. The main part of the shop had then been transformed from a dull potions shop to a vibrant place to relax and have a bite to eat. All the counters were now in place and the tables and chairs had arrived.

Hermione was sitting on the floor with some papers, trying to sort out the positioning of the tables and chairs, when one of the workmen popped his head round the door and announced the sign had gone up. The sign was the only big thing left to do and now that was done, the finer details were all Hermione had left to do. Even though the shop didn't open until the New Year, there was still plenty that needed sorting, including hiring the staff.

"Luna, the sign's up." Hermione called into the kitchen as she stood up. "Are you coming to see it?"

"Two minutes." Luna called back.

Hermione waited for Luna and a minute later the blonde entered the main body of the shop, carrying Lyra in her arms. While Hermione was working on the furnishings and sorting things out front, Luna was in the kitchen trying out a few new recipes. Lyra was more than happy in the kitchen with Luna, acting as her helper and taste tester.

"Have you been eating all the cakes?" Hermione teased Lyra, wiping away some icing that was on her cheek.

"I'm helping Auntie Luna." Lyra grinned proudly.

"Yes she is, and she's the best little helper in the world." Luna grinned at the little girl in her arms, causing Lyra to smile back and snuggle against her chest.

"Let's go and see this sign." Hermione said, leading the way outside.

Once outside Luna and Hermione looked up at the sign appraisingly. The name of the shop, Magical Bites, was written in mint green on a cream background and beside the name was a picture of a beautiful looking cupcake. Apart from the big sign, above the front window, there was also a matching little sign that hung more from the side of the shop.

"I like it." Luna remarked.

"So do I." Hermione agreed. "It's exactly what I wanted."

"We better get back, we've got some cupcakes that need decorating." Luna said. "Come on Lyra, I'm going to need my little taste tester in a minute."

While Luna and Lyra headed back indoors Hermione remained outside, looking up at the sign. When she tore her eyes away from the sign she looked at the large window, wondering if she should have a display in it. Hermione spent a few minutes debating over having a display in the large window, or using the smaller window and having a couple of tables by the large window. She was just considering mocking up displays to see what looked better when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Hermione whirled round at the interruption and was shocked to find the grinning faces of Fred and George looking at her. The twins' smiles turned to looks of shock as they registered who they had approached.

"Hermione, what a surprise." Fred spluttered, still unable to believe his eyes. "It's so great to see you."

"Yeah, it's excellent." George beamed. "We just popped over to introduce ourselves to the newcomer and we find you."

"Is this your shop?" Fred asked, peering in the window at the partially furnished shop.

"Yes, it's mine." Hermione replied. She was slightly hesitant with the twins as she hadn't seen them since the news of her pregnancy broke and she had no idea whether they had judged her as harshly as their brother and sister had.

"That's brilliant." George said. "Is it just a cake shop, or is it a café as well?"

"It's both."

"Excellent." Fred grinned. "Our lunch breaks will be sorted now."

"Do you make the cakes or have you hired someone to do the baking?" George asked.

"I've hired Luna, who'll do a lot of the cooking, but I'll also do a lot myself." Hermione answered.

"I didn't know you baked." Fred commented. "You never baked for us."

"It's only a recent development." Hermione smiled at Fred's fake pout at the fact she hadn't baked for them. "It was something to do when I was at home with Lyra, and I found I really love it."

"Lyra? That would be your baby." George guessed.

"Yes, Lyra's my daughter." Hermione nodded, watching the twin's response closely to work out their true feelings on her being a mother so young.

"We were sorry to hear what happened at school, Hermione." George said.

"Not the pregnancy, the abuse you had to suffer." Fred added, not wanting Hermione to think they were judging her. "Granted the pregnancy took us by surprise, but we were appalled to hear things had gotten so bad you left."

"If we'd still been there, no-one would have dared speak about you in such a derogatory way." George snarled, clearly still angry at the abuse Hermione had suffered.

"Yeah, you're like a sister to us and we wouldn't have stood for it." Fred added, looking equally as angry as his twin.

"Thanks, I appreciate your support." Hermione said quietly. "I just wish I had some support like that back in school."

"What about Harry and Ron?" Fred questioned in confusion. "And Ginny? Didn't they support you?"

Hermione looked at the twins oddly as she shook her head. "No, they didn't."

"Why the hell not?" George demanded. "They were your best friends."

"Maybe we should go inside." Hermione suggested. The twins were beginning to get heated and before long people would start to stare and Hermione didn't want to be the subject of gossip yet again.

Hermione led Fred and George into the shop, where she summoned a table from the corner and placed three chairs around it.

"Do you want a drink or a cake?" Hermione asked at the twins sat down.

"Not just yet." George said. "We want to know what happened. Why didn't Harry, Ron and Ginny support you?"

"I suppose you'll have to ask them." Hermione shrugged as she sat down opposite the twins. "All I know is that when the news of my pregnancy broke, I didn't get the support I wanted from my friends. Ron and Ginny made it clear they thought I was a slapper, while Harry just sat back and let them abuse me. Of course things only got worse once Lavender and Ron started dating and I had to deal with her poison as well."

"Bloody rats." Fred snarled. "That was not what they told us."

"What did they tell you?" Hermione questioned, curious as to what her former friends had said about her to their family.

"Well Ron wrote and told mum straight away, the little sneak. As I'm sure you've guessed she didn't take it well. Mum's pretty old fashioned and getting pregnant at school isn't something she approves of." George started, deciding it was best to tell Hermione everything.

"I gathered that when I saw her just before Christmas." Hermione sighed, remembering the dirty look she had received from the twin's mother. "She looked at me as though I was dirt."

"She really regrets that, you know." Fred said. "Over the holidays as the rest of us found out we all expressed our support for you and mum admitted she'd been hasty in judging you. Before they went back to school mum told Harry and Ron to pass her love along and for them to tell you that you'll always be part of this family."

"Of course, we thought they were all still your friends." George added. "They certainly acted that way."

"Yeah, they did." Fred nodded along with his brother's assertions. "In fact they spent most of the holidays telling us how nasty people were being to you."

"We were all appalled of course, so I'm guessing that's why they never said anything." George snorted. "They knew we would be mad if we found out they were just as bad as everyone else."

"They were worse." Hermione corrected. "I'm sure other people said worse things about me, but what they said hurt more. They were my best friends and they treated me as though I was a cheap tart. It didn't seem to bother them that we'd been friends for years, they still judged me and ridiculed me. Out of everyone, their actions hurt the most."

"What about the father?" George asked tentatively. "Didn't his refusal to have anything to do with you hurt?"

"Yet another lie Harry and Ron told no doubt." Hermione snarled angrily. "The truth is, I wouldn't reveal the father's identity at the time because it wasn't safe. I told them we were in a relationship, but they refused to believe it."

"So the father did support you." Fred smiled, relived that at least someone had been there for Hermione.

"Yes, he supported me throughout the entire thing. We're now happily married." Hermione said.

"That's great, Hermione." George grinned. "And what about your daughter? We'd love to meet her."

Before Hermione had a chance to respond the door to the kitchen opened and Lyra raced into the café. Fred and George turned to watch as a little redheaded girl ran up to Hermione, laughing and clapping her hands.

"Look mummy, red." Lyra cried, pointing to her hair.

"So I see." Hermione smiled, picking Lyra up and sitting her on her knee. "Fred, George, this is Lyra."

"She's lovely." Fred said, trying to decide if her red hair was a giveaway to her father, but the only redhead's he could think of were all Weasley's.

Before Fred had a chance to voice his questions about Lyra's father the little girls' hair started to change colour. Her hair that had been bright red a moment ago, began to fade and after a few minutes she was a platinum blonde.

"Wow, is she a metamorphmagus?" George asked.

"No." Hermione laughed. "She's helping Luna try out a few new recipes. That was the result of icing that temporarily changes the colour of your hair."

"So, she's normally blonde." George stated.

"Yes, just like her father." Hermione said, wondering if the twins would make the connection with Draco.

Both twins watched Lyra for a few minutes, before sharing a surprised look. When they turned back to face Hermione, she knew they had worked out the identity of Lyra's father.

"We are talking about Malfoy, aren't we?" Fred asked, wanting to be sure they were right. "He's Lyra's dad."

"Yes, Lyra is Draco's." Hermione nodded. "And with all that's happened with his father recently, I'm sure you can see why we couldn't tell anyone in school."

"We can definitely understand you keeping quiet." Fred reassured Hermione. "You were doing what was right for you and your daughter and we completely support that."

"Thanks. I wasn't intending on lying to people, I just couldn't tell anyone without risking it getting out." Hermione explained.

"Hermione, you don't have to justify yourself to us." George told the witch. "It's your life and frankly it was no-one's business who you were involved with."

Hermione smiled at the twins and was just about to reply when Lyra suddenly flung her arms in the air as she squealed for her daddy. Hermione, Fred and George all turned to the doorway to find Draco entering the shop. As he made his way over to his wife and daughter, Draco eyed the two redheads' up warily.

"Is everything alright, here?" Draco asked Hermione as he pulled Lyra into his arms.

"We're fine, we're just catching up." Hermione told her husband, not wanting him to get mad at the twins when they hadn't even done anything.

"As long as you're sure." Draco said, still not looking convinced everything was okay.

"I'm sure." Hermione insisted. "Draco, take Lyra back into the kitchen to help Luna."

Not wanting to leave Hermione alone, Draco hurriedly dropped Lyra off in the kitchen before returning to his wife's side. Summoning a chair he sat down next to Hermione and placed his arm over her shoulders in a protective gesture. Hermione rolled her eyes at her husband, but she didn't bother to remove his arm.

"I think some introductions are called for." Hermione said, trying to ease the tension that had built since Draco's arrival. "Draco these are my friends, Fred and George Weasley. Fred, George this is my husband, Draco Malfoy."

"It's nice to meet you." Fred said politely as Draco shook hands with the twins. "I would say I've heard a lot about you, but I suspect most of what I've heard is inaccurate."

"I suppose that all depends on what you've heard." Draco remarked. "But if what you've heard comes from your tosspot brother and his idiotic friend, then most of it will be inaccurate."

"Draco, be nice." Hermione hissed at her husband. "Fred and George aren't to blame for Ron's behaviour."

"I guess not, sorry." Draco sighed.

"It's alright." George said, brushing the blond's frostiness off. "In your position I'd be wary of us too. But I want you to know that Fred and I don't condone our little brother's behaviour."

"We think Harry, Ron and Ginny should all be deeply ashamed of themselves." Fred added, backing his brother up. "If we'd know the truth earlier, we would have had something to say."

"What do you mean, if you'd know the truth earlier?" Draco asked.

"Until we started talking to Hermione, we were under the impression that she had just drifted away from Harry and Ron when she left school." George explained. "They told us what people were saying about her, but they happened to leave out the small detail that they were joining in."

"That sounds like them two." Draco muttered.

"You know, now we know the truth we can talk to them and make them apologise." George said to Hermione.

"No." Hermione said sharply. "I'm not interested in hearing from them. They made their feelings towards me perfectly clear, and I have no desire to talk to them again."

"That's your choice." Fred said. "We won't tell them we've seen you."

"Thank you." Hermione smiled.

"I hope we can still see you, though." George said. "We've really missed you and it would be great to have you back in our lives."

"Yeah, we could go on a triple date." Fred grinned enthusiastically. "Not to mention, we need to try some of your baking."

"I'm sure we can arrange both." Hermione chuckled, pleased she now had the lovable Weasley twins back in her life.


	23. Chapter 23

Christmas for the Malfoy's was a family orientated affair with Lyra getting spoilt rotten from everyone. Having Christmas in the middle of winter was nice and familiar for Hermione and Draco as their last couple of Christmases had been celebrated in the middle of the Australian summer, something that both of them found hard to adjust to.

Once Christmas was over, Hermione returned her attention to finishing off the shop. The grand opening was set for the second Monday of the New Year and the Saturday afternoon before that found Hermione in the shop, going over last minute details. Draco had gone into work for a few hours so Hermione had Lyra with her, luckily Narcissa had popped by and was entertaining the little girl.

"Hermione sweetheart, I don't think you can do anymore." Narcissa remarked, as she watched her daughter-in-law change the table centrepieces for the third time.

"I just want it to be perfect." Hermione sighed, looking around the café in case something else needed changing.

"And it will be, but you need to go home and relax." Narcissa said. "Why don't Severus and I look after Lyra tonight? You and Draco can relax and you can come and pick her up anytime tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked. "I don't want to be any hassle."

"It's not a hassle. Honestly, we'll love it." Narcissa smiled. She hadn't been sure that Hermione would be up for leaving Lyra with her and Severus, but she figured that after knowing her granddaughter for six months that it was worth a try.

"Thank you, Narcissa. That would be amazing." Hermione said. "We can go back to mine and I can pack her a bag."

With the decision made that Lyra would spend the night at her grandparent's house, Hermione packed up and they headed home. Lyra was thrilled when she found out where she was going and she excitedly helped Hermione pack her little overnight bag.

"Are you sure this isn't an inconvenience?" Hermione checked with Narcissa as she handed her daughter and her bag over to the older witch.

"I'm sure." Narcissa nodded. "Now stop worrying and relax. Just enjoy yourself and you and Draco make the most of being toddler free for the night."

"We will." Hermione smiled. "Is there any particular time you want us to pick Lyra up tomorrow?"

"Any time you want, although if you come over about one we could all have lunch together."

"Great, we'll be there at one." Hermione nodded at Narcissa before turning to her daughter. "And you be a good girl for Nana Cissa and Grandpa Severus."

Lyra just giggled at her mother and snuggled closer to Narcissa. After saying their goodbyes Narcissa and Lyra then flooed to Narcissa's cottage, leaving Hermione alone. Hermione hadn't planned for an evening alone with her husband so she spent a few minutes deciding on the best way to spend their time.

Eventually she decided to cook something nice for Draco's return from work. Heading into the kitchen, she prepared mince and dumplings and placed it in the oven. While the meal was cooking she decided to go for a nice relaxing soak in the bath. Setting numerous charms on the food to stop it from burning, Hermione headed upstairs.

As she lay in the bubbles of her bath, Hermione had an idea regarding her evening with Draco. Since they were alone she was going to give him a surprising welcome. Smiling at the saucy image she would make, Hermione finished her bath before spending a while pampering herself with luxurious body butter and spritzing herself with her favourite scent.

Once she had dried her hair and finished with her pampering, Hermione headed back downstairs to put the finishing touches to her husband's surprise.

* * *

...

* * *

The second Draco entered the house he could smell the delicious scent of his wife's cooking. Hermione had become an all-around good cook in the last two and a half years, and while her passion was for making cakes and biscuits her regular meals were lovely and tasty. Just the smell of the food had Draco's stomach rumbling and he quickly hung up his jacket and made his way towards the kitchen.

In the doorway of the kitchen Draco halted, his mouth dropping open at the sight before him. At a first glance everything looked completely normal, the table was set for two people and Hermione was opening a bottle of wine and pouring it into two glasses while the piping hot food sat on the counter behind her. Despite the ordinary looking scene, Draco's eyes were riveted to Hermione, who made the scene anything but ordinary.

Hermione was wearing a green and silver checked apron, which was obviously enchanted to show the colours of his own school house. Hermione wearing an apron in the kitchen wasn't exactly unusual, but this time it was all she was wearing. Draco continued to watch as Hermione turned round to place the glasses on the table, giving him a perfect view of her bare backside.

"Good, you're home." Hermione smiled, spotting her shocked husband. "Your mother and Severus are having Lyra for the night, so it's just us two."

"I did gather we were alone." Draco commented, finding his voice. "At least I hoped we were when you were wearing so little."

"Do you like it?" Hermione asked, suddenly self-conscious about doing something so brazen.

"I love it." Draco smirked, stalking into the kitchen and pulling Hermione into his arms. "But suddenly, I'm not hungry."

"That's a shame, because mince and dumplings is the first thing on the menu. I'm the dessert." Hermione said, wriggling out of Draco's arms and readjusting her apron that was now slightly askew. "You can't get dessert before having dinner."

"We better get on with it then, because I don't know how long I can keep my hands off you." Draco declared as he sat down at the table.

Hermione merely smiled at Draco as she dished out the dinner and brought it to the table. Draco immediately began wolfing his food down, while Hermione took her time to eat properly. The result meant that Draco was finished first and was stuck watching Hermione, and by this time he was sure she was tormenting him deliberately. Every time Hermione moved her apron would shift slightly and after reaching for her glass of wine her right nipple was visible and she hadn't bothered to readjust herself.

Finally Hermione finished eating, so Draco jumped up and grabbed his wife. With one sweep of his hand he cleared the table, sending dirty plates, glasses and everything else crashing to the floor.

"Draco!" Hermione cried, unimpressed with the mess on her kitchen floor.

"I'll clean it later." Draco told her. "Right now, I have more important business to attend to."

Before Hermione could protest any further Draco had lifted her onto the table and pulled her close to the edge. Spreading her legs, he stepped in-between them and Hermione moaned as she felt his rock hard length pressed against her. Smirking at the sounds Hermione was making, Draco surged forward and captured her lips in a heated exchange.

As their tongues danced around each other's and they explored each other's mouths, Hermione's hands began frantically scrabbling at Draco's shirt. Getting annoyed with the fiddly buttons, Hermione resorted to just tearing the light grey shirt off her husband's back.

"Hey, I like that shirt." Draco protested as the material fluttered to the floor.

"I'll fix it later." Hermione shrugged, reaching for Draco's belt. "Right now, I want you naked."

"Anything you wish." Draco smirked as he quickly undid his belt and pulled down his trousers and underwear.

Stepping back up to the table, Draco quickly pulled the apron off Hermione. Resuming the position in between her legs the couple both moaned as Draco's erection rubbed against Hermione without the barrier of clothes. For a few seconds the couple were completely still, until they suddenly launched themselves at each other.

Within minutes hands were exploring naked flesh, lips and teeth were nipping and kissing at each other and Draco was buried deep inside Hermione. The sex was fast and furious, with Draco pounding relentlessly into Hermione as she begged him for more. When Hermione climaxed, screaming Draco's name louder than he had ever heard before, he followed her into oblivion and the pair collapsed onto the table.

Hermione and Draco barely had time to catch their breath when they heard a creaking noise and the table gave way beneath them. Collapsing onto the floor with the table, the couple burst into fits of laughter.

"I'll fix it later." Draco chuckled, as he picked up a table leg.

"I can't believe we made such a mess." Hermione grinned, looking at the destruction of her normally neat kitchen. "And we didn't even have dessert."

"I thought you were dessert, and I definitely had you." Draco remarked as his hands began trailing back down Hermione's body.

"I actually had some dessert in the fridge." Hermione said. "I thought we would enjoy it together."

Curious as to what Hermione had sorted for dessert, Draco got up and wandered over to the fridge. Opening the door he grinned when he spotted a large bowl of strawberries and a bowl of whipped cream. Grabbing the two bowls he turned back to Hermione, who was now standing up.

"How about we take this to bed?" He suggested.

Hermione grinned and nodded as the couple sprinted off to the bedroom. The mess in the kitchen could wait, they had fresh mess to make in the bedroom.

* * *

...

* * *

Before they were able to go and collect Lyra, Hermione and Draco had to clean the house from their previous night's activities. The couple had finally fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning, after spending hours rolling around their large bed.

The first thing the couple did upon getting up was to take a shower together. The shower had been intended to help the couple clean up after their dessert the previous night, but of course the shower was extended due to the fact they couldn't keep their hands off each other. When they finally tore themselves out of the shower they dressed and Hermione changed the bedding, which had bits of cream and strawberries encrusted on it after the previous night.

Once the bedroom was clean the couple headed downstairs to deal with the mess in the kitchen. Luckily their magic was very useful in tidying up and after ten minutes the table was fixed, the mess on the floor was gone and the room looked perfectly neat once again.

"That's better." Hermione said, nodding at her spotless kitchen. "I do like a tidy kitchen."

"Personally I liked it the way it was." Draco shrugged. "It reminded me of you sprawled all over the kitchen table."

"I don't think we need a broken table as a reminder." Hermione chuckled. "I'm sure neither of us will forget last night in a hurry."

"True." Draco agreed. "It was rather memorable."

"Well, instead of standing here reminiscing I think we should head to your mother's." Hermione said as the couple left the kitchen. "It's nearly one and I don't want to be late."

After grabbing their jackets, Draco took hold of Hermione's hand and apparated them to Narcissa and Severus's cottage. Narcissa answered the door and ushered the couple into the front room, where Lyra was happily sitting on Severus's knee.

"Mummy, daddy." Lyra cried, wriggling off her grandpa's lap and running to her parents.

"Hi, princess." Draco beamed at his daughter as he picked her up in his arms. "Have you been a good girl?"

"She's been perfect." Narcissa replied, before heading off to the kitchen to check on lunch.

"I would ask if you two had a relaxing night, but you both looked pretty knackered." Severus smirked. "I take it you made the most of your time alone."

Hermione blushed at Severus's implications and hurriedly made an excuse to go and check on Narcissa and see if she needed help. Draco meanwhile just chuckled at his godfather as he settled down next to him on the sofa and placed Lyra on the floor to play.

"I'm pleased we're alone, I want to speak to you." Severus said, checking the doorway to make sure Narcissa wasn't coming back.

"What about?" Draco asked.

"You know I'm taking your mother away for the weekend at the end of the month?" Severus asked and Draco nodded. "If it's all right by you, I want to ask her to marry me. I don't want to do anything you're not comfortable with, so if you're not ready just tell me and I can wait."

"Don't wait." Draco said with a smile. "Mother deserves some happiness, and I know you make her happy. I would love for the pair of you to get married."

"Thank you, Draco. It really means a lot that you support us." Severus smiled.

Draco smiled back and the two wizards started chatting about Draco's work. Shortly after that Narcissa announced dinner was ready and the family settled down to eat. Watching his mother and godfather, Draco was pleased that they would soon be married and his mother would get the loving husband she deserved.


	24. Chapter 24

The first week of February found Diagon Alley coated in a thin layer of snow, but even the cold weather didn't keep the shoppers at bay. As usual the street was jam packed with witches and wizards and Magical Bites was doing a roaring trade, as it had done since opening in early January.

Amidst the shoppers, Ginny Weasley and Lavender Brown strolled down Diagon Alley, trying to decide where to go for lunch. The two witches were currently indulging in a shopping spree as they were going out that night to celebrate their boyfriends, Harry and Ron, passing their Auror training and becoming fully fledged Aurors.

"What about this place?" Ginny asked, stopping outside of Magical Bites and looking inside at the cosy looking café. "I think it must be new, I've never seen it before."

"I guess it is." Lavender replied. "But you would have thought the twins might have mentioned it, I mean their shop is just opposite."

"It's not like they're exactly happy at the moment though, is it?" Ginny said, glaring at her brothers' shop across the street. "They've been off with us since before Christmas."

"I wonder if we've upset them in some way." Lavender mused, thinking on the twin's frostiness towards her, Ginny, Ron and Harry.

"Who cares?" Ginny shrugged. "Let's forget about them and try this place."

Lavender agreed and the two witches left the cold street behind and entered the warm café. The smell of warm food and drink filled the air and immediately both women were eager to sit down and eat. Heading to join the queue, Ginny and Lavender checked out the menu's on the wall behind the counters and the goodies on display in the glass counters.

The drinks menu ranged from hot and cold and magical to muggle, with almost every drink imaginable available in some form. The savoury menu contained sandwiches, wraps, toasted sandwiches and a selection of pies and pasties, in a wide variety of fillings. The big focus however was on the vast dessert menu, with cakes, biscuits and all sorts of sweet treats on offer. However, the most unique and interesting feature was the range of magical bites and fancies, where the magic in them lasted for up to fifteen minutes depending on the treat.

Ginny and Lavender looked at the magical treats in awe. According to the signs the magical treats varied from week to week, with some things only available for a limited time. One of the limited editions were peppermint pick me ups, a mint chocolate with a tiny dash of pepperup potion in to help relieve the cold. Among the normal range of treats were lucky star cookies, biscuits with a tiny dash of liquid luck in, glitter brownies that made your skin sparkle for a while and happiness bites, individual cakes with a bit of a happiness potion in to cheer you up. Then there was the big favourite with children, hair-dye cupcakes, where the colour of the icing determined what colour your hair turned for a bit.

"This is rather impressive." Lavender declared as they looked at the sweet treats. "Adding magic to the baking is pretty unique."

"Yeah, they are good." Ginny said, spotting a range of Quidditch cupcakes.

The Quidditch cupcakes were all different flavours, but the icing on each cake corresponded to a specific team or country. As well as the impressive icing job, each cake came with a Quidditch figure that flew around the cake and was yours to keep after you'd finished your cake. Ginny knew that the idea was a good one and people would spend a fortune to collect the whole set of figures for the team they supported.

"Come on, let's get our food and sit down." Lavender said, dragging Ginny away from the Quidditch cupcakes before she got maudlin.

After leaving school Ginny had signed a provisional contract to play for a professional Quidditch team and had been confident of becoming a big star. Unfortunately her career had never really taken off and she struggled to even make it onto the reserve team. Since she only got paid when she played Ginny was often without money and her contract was drawing to a close and it didn't look likely she would get a permanent one.

Once they had gotten their food, Ginny and Lavender settled down in the corner of the café and watched the people coming and going. The café was clearly very popular as there was a steady stream of customers and the tables were nearly all filled all the time.

"Dad's been bugging me to get a job at the Ministry." Ginny told Lavender as they ate. "He reckons he can get me a job in the secretary pool."

"Are you going to do it?" Lavender asked.

"I think so." Ginny sighed dejectedly. "It's not what I want to do, but I don't really have a choice."

"Look on the bright side. If you get the job you can afford to move in with Harry." Lavender remarked.

Since leaving school Harry and Ron had shared a small flat but lately Lavender and Ron had been talking about getting their own place. Ron however was reluctant to leave Harry on his own as he couldn't afford to live alone and without a regular income Ginny wouldn't be able to contribute if she moved in.

"You just encouraging me, so you can whisk Ron away to live with you." Ginny chuckled.

"Maybe, but it'll also be good for you to have a bit more money." Lavender pointed out. While she didn't struggle for money between her job as an intern at Witch Weekly magazine and a generous allowance from her father, Lavender knew how bad Ginny felt when she had to rely on Harry to pay her way on a night out.

"I know." Ginny agreed. "Maybe I can keep trying for a Quidditch career as well, just because I'm taking a job as a secretary doesn't mean I have to be one forever."

"Exactly." Lavender grinned. "Working at the Ministry is merely a stop gap."

Ginny nodded along with Lavender and they started talking about what would happen when Ginny took the job. Both girls were excited at the prospect of moving in with their boyfriends and they happily chatted about their plans over a second cup of coffee and a second cake.

"Bloody hell." Lavender suddenly gasped, poking Ginny in the side. "Ginny, look over there."

Ginny looked to where Lavender was pointing and was shocked to see Hermione behind the counter. The brunette witch was putting cakes into one of the display counters and once she'd finished she briefly spoke to one of the other witches behind the counter before disappearing through a door that probably led into the kitchen.

"Do you think she works here?" Ginny asked as Hermione re-appeared once again with another tray of cakes to top up.

"It looks like it." Lavender remarked with a smirk. "Obviously getting knocked up at seventeen leads you to a crummy job in a café."

"How do you know it's a crummy job?" Ginny asked.

"Come on, she doesn't even work out front. She's clearly just a kitchen skivvy." Lavender responded. "Serves her right, the stuck-up slapper. She always did think she was better than us."

"She did like to act all uppity." Ginny admitted.

"Ooh, we should bring Ron and Harry to see how the golden girl has fallen." Lavender grinned.

"Yeah." Ginny nodded. "That should be good for a laugh."

Ginny and Lavender stayed in the café for another ten minutes, but didn't see Hermione again. By the time they left they were already making plans to bring their boyfriends later in the week.

* * *

...

* * *

It was the end of the week before Harry and Ron were free to accompany their girlfriends to Diagon Alley. Ginny and Lavender had wasted no time in telling them they had seen Hermione working in the café, but it was Saturday afternoon before the two wizards had any free time to visit the café themselves.

Upon arrival at the café the two couples settled down at a table near to the kitchen door as they hoped to get a glimpse of Hermione. They also all had drinks and a cake and Ron especially was thrilled with his Chudley Cannons cake that came complete with a figure of the team's seeker.

"Are we actually going to speak to Hermione?" Harry asked, wondering what the plan was.

"Why would we speak to her?" Ron questioned. "She left without a word and never bothered to get in touch."

"In her shoes, I would have left as well." Ginny remarked. "I would have been totally humiliated to be a teenage mother with no support from the arsehole who knocked me up."

"How do you know she's had no support?" Harry questioned. "Hermione always claimed she was in a relationship with the father."

"She was clearly just trying to cover her back." Lavender snorted. "No-one ever owned up to shagging her and from the looks of things she's still alone. Why else would she be slumming it in a kitchen? It's obvious she's all alone and is working a lousy job to support her brat."

"It's such a shame." Harry sighed. "Hermione could have had such a bright future."

"Well she shouldn't have dropped her knickers so easily back in school." Ginny retorted, not happy that Harry seemed to be feeling sorry for Hermione and the mess she had gotten herself into. "If she hadn't been shagging about, she wouldn't be in this mess. She would have a good job at the Ministry and she would probably have been involved in helping us win the war. Instead she ran off like a coward and now she's stuck scrubbing dishes to earn a living."

"Speaking of cowards, one just walked in." Ron sneered, gesturing to the doorway.

Turning round the group watched as Draco Malfoy strode into the café. The blond barely glanced in their direction as he sauntered up to the counter, spoke to the witch behind it and headed on through to the kitchen.

"Bloody Malfoy, he should be rotting in Azkaban." Harry muttered. "You'll never convince me he wasn't on the dark. I reckon the whole story about him running was concocted by Lucius once Voldemort was defeated. I think Lucius sacrificed himself to save Malfoy and the bloody Aurors fell for it."

"I guess we'll never know." Ginny soothed her boyfriend, knowing how worked up he could get over Malfoy and his escape of any punishment after the war. "But what do you think he's doing here? And why do you think he just walked straight through to the back?"

"Who cares?" Ron shrugged.

Before they had a chance to debate Draco's presence any further the wizard in question sauntered out of the kitchen. The blond was now munching on a cookie and once again he didn't acknowledge the four former Gryffindors as he walked right past them and left the café.

"So do you think we're going to see Hermione today?" Ron whined. "I'm getting bored."

"We could always try some of the magical cakes." Ginny suggested. "We could try the hair-dye cupcakes or the glitter brownies."

"I'm not sitting in public with dodgy coloured hair." Ron argued, curling his nose up at the idea.

"And I'm not going to sparkle like a fairy." Harry pointed out. "Are there any magical cakes not aimed at kids?"

"There's lover's heart muffins." Lavender said, looking at the menu on the table. "Apparently it's their special valentine line and they're only available to adults. The muffins contain a mild lust potion that is designed to spice up your sex drive."

"Maybe we should take a few home." Harry suggested to Ginny.

"I'll just go and grab a couple." Ginny grinned, bouncing up and rushing off to the counter.

At Ron's insistence Lavender followed her and the two girls returned with a box of muffins each. Shortly after that they decided to cut their losses and go home. They hadn't seen Hermione, but they could always return another time and see how low their former friend had sunk.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N – Thanks for all the reviews. I did however have one guest review that confused me, and since it was a guest review I can't respond to them so I thought I'd address it here. **

**The review mentioned that things didn't fit with other chapters. The first point that was mentioned was Ginny and Lavender, and the fact they didn't live with Harry and Ron. Neither have been in the story since the end of the first part and only mentioned briefly in this part. It has certainly never been mentioned that they were living with Harry and Ron and were well off. The second fault was supposedly that they already knew about Hermione and Draco – again that's not right. They haven't seen Hermione since school and the only time they saw Draco was at Lucius's trial, and Hermione wasn't mentioned. The only people who could have told them were Fred and George and Hermione asked the twins not to, and they haven't. **

**I can only guess whoever left the review has mixed this story up with another one. I don't mind people pointing out flaws, as even with all the notes, timelines and chapter plans that I use I do know that mistakes can still happen, but it's a bit odd to have criticism about things that didn't even happen in this story. **

**Also I know people are looking forward to the confrontation between Hermione and her friends, and it is coming I promise. This chapter however goes back to Draco and Hermione, since this second part is actually about their lives as a family. Hopefully for those looking for some action the next couple of chapters will please as Draco and Hermione's former friends come into play.**

* * *

The second Draco entered Hermione's café he spotted Potter and Weasley along with their vicious little girlfriends. His first instinct was to react and throw them out onto the streets, but not wanting to cause a scene he took a deep breath and ignored the foursome as he headed into the kitchen. When he walked back through the café they were still there and once again it took every ounce of Draco's self-control to ignore them as he passed by their table and left the café.

By the time he arrived home a few minutes later, Draco was wondering if he should mention who he had seen to Hermione. His wife hadn't been at the café as she was at home looking after Lyra. Entering the front room he found Hermione sitting on the sofa while Lyra was dancing along to her cartoon on the television.

"Did you remember to pop into the café to see Luna?" Hermione asked as Draco sat down next to her.

"Yes, and she'll be here at six." Draco replied.

Luna was coming to babysit Lyra while Hermione and Draco went out with Fred, George and their girlfriends, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson. The evening wasn't the first triple date the couples had been on since the twins had re-entered Hermione's life. It was the third time Draco and Hermione were going out with the other two couples and twice they'd had them over for dinner and they had met Lyra.

Initially Draco had been wary of the twins but he was fine once he realised they were nothing like Ron and Ginny. The fact that the twins had made it clear they were disgusted by people's attitudes towards Hermione in school, helped Draco warm to the pair. In fact the three wizards were becoming increasingly close with every meeting and Hermione knew Draco considered the twins true friends.

"I also saw a few other people in the café." Draco said. He'd decided to tell Hermione who he had seen in case her former friends turned up at the café again, at least if she knew she wold have had some sort of advance warning that they were sniffing around and she wouldn't be taken by surprise.

"Who?" Hermione questioned.

"Potter and Weasley, and their two sorry excuses for girlfriends." Draco said, deliberately watching his language as Lyra was in the room and she was going through a stage of hearing a new word and constantly repeating it.

"Ginny and Lavender were in the café earlier in the week." Hermione said, turning her attention back to her daughter.

When Hermione turned away from him, Draco began to worry his wife was hiding something from him. He'd had no idea the two former Gryffindors had been in the café earlier in the week and he wouldn't put it past those two bitches to have a go at Hermione.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Draco asked. "Did they have a go at you? I swear if they upset you, I'm going to go and see them and give them a piece of my mind."

Hermione smiled at Draco's protectiveness as she turned back to face her husband. "I didn't say anything because they don't matter to me. They were in the café and they didn't even speak. I know they saw me because they were watching me and no doubt they were talking about me as well, but they didn't approach me and they definitely didn't upset me. Even if they had spoken they wouldn't have upset me, I'm a lot tougher than I was three years ago."

"You've always been tough." Draco remarked, putting his arm around Hermione. "You were just more vulnerable in school, because we were all alone and had no support."

"Luckily that's not the case now." Hermione smiled, snuggling into Draco's side. "We've got plenty of support and we're even gathering some friends."

"Yeah, Weasley's." Draco chuckled. "I've got to admit, I never thought I would see the day when I was good friends with two members of the Weasley family."

"I know what you mean, I never once thought that my best friend would turn out to be Luna Lovegood." Hermione said. "But you know what, she's the best friend I've ever had and I wouldn't swap her for anything."

"I guess we're pretty lucky that not everyone is as judgemental as our old friends." Draco remarked. "And I actually think we're better off with the friends we have now, we now have real friends who we know we can rely on."

Hermione nodded in agreement as the couple lapsed into silence as they watched Lyra dance and sing along to her cartoon. When Lyra's cartoon was finished, Hermione whisked her protesting daughter off to have a bath and get ready for bed while Draco went and got ready for their night out.

"I don't want to go to bed." Lyra argued as Hermione undressed the wriggling toddler.

"You're not going to bed yet." Hermione explained. "You're going to have a bath and put your pyjama's on. Then Auntie Luna is coming to look after you and she'll read you your bedtime story."

"Okay." Lyra nodded, suddenly stopping her wriggling at the mention of seeing Luna.

"Come on, let's get you in the bath." Hermione told her daughter as they entered the bathroom and she magically filled the bath and added lots of bubbles for her daughter.

"Mummy, can I be a mermaid?" Lyra asked, as Hermione sat her in the bath. "I want to be in the sea."

Hermione chuckled at her daughter and explained she was a human, not a mermaid and she couldn't change. Lyra had watched The Little Mermaid earlier that day and Hermione was guessing the story had stuck with her.

"Why not?" Lyra pouted as she splashed her little hands into the water. "Mermaid, mermaid, mermaid." She chanted as she splashed around, soaking Hermione in the process.

When Hermione called an end to the bath, Lyra was still chanting about becoming a mermaid. Knowing her daughter would carry on chanting until she was sick, Hermione set about drying her and cajoling her into her pyjamas. Luckily Lyra had stopped chanting by the time Hermione took her back downstairs for Draco to watch while she went and got ready.

While Hermione was getting ready she heard Draco greeting Luna and by the time she headed back downstairs her friend had settled down to play with Lyra. When Hermione entered the front room she found her normally cream carpet was various shades of blue and Luna and Lyra were wriggling around on the floor, with the little two and a half year old giggling infectiously.

"They're playing mermaids." Draco explained to his bemused wife. "And apparently Luna reckons you and her could probably make some sort or cake or biscuit that would turn Lyra into a real mermaid for a bit."

"We probably could, I just never thought about it when she asked. We'll have to look into it." Hermione replied.

"Anyway, are we ready?" Draco asked his wife.

Hermione nodded and the couple said goodbye to their daughter and Luna before flooing to the restaurant where they were due to meet the Weasley twins and their girlfriends.

* * *

...

* * *

As usual dinner was a fun, lively affair with plenty of laughing and joking. However this night there was one detail that both Hermione and Draco noticed, Alicia wasn't drinking alcohol like the rest of the group. After her third soft drink of the night, Hermione asked the other witch about her lack of alcohol consumption.

Before answering Hermione's question, Alicia looked at Fred as if asking him a question. When her boyfriend smiled and nodded at her she turned back to Hermione in excitement.

"I'm pregnant."

"That's great, congratulations." Hermione grinned, hugging both Alicia and Fred.

"That's brilliant mate." Draco added, giving Fred a warm smile.

"We were hoping on picking your brains on the subject of children." Fred told the younger couple. "You're actually the only couple we know with a child."

"We'll help in any way we can." Hermione said.

"Maybe you should come and look after Lyra for the afternoon and get some hands on training." Draco suggested.

"That'll be so easy." George scoffed. "Lyra's a brilliant kid, she's no hassle whatsoever."

"You say that because you only see her for a few hours, believe me spending all day with her can sometimes be a challenge." Hermione said. "She's the most stubborn little thing I've ever met."

"Of course she is, look at her parents." Angelina laughed. "You two are ridiculously stubborn."

"I also wanted to ask you a few questions about pregnancy." Alice quickly interjected before her best friend accidentally offended the younger couple. "Did you ever have any strange cravings?"

As Hermione answered Alicia's questions regarding her experiences of being pregnant, Fred asked Draco for advice on handling his hormonal girlfriend. The second he asked the question Fred immediately regretted it as Draco's cheery disposition faded and the blond looked sadly at his wife who was laughing with Alice and Angelina.

"Sorry Draco, I didn't think." Fred apologised.

"It's not your fault." Draco said, turning back to the twins. "I always wish I'd been able to be there for Hermione while she was pregnant. I think that was the hardest thing about waiting until the end of the year to leave, knowing she was going through something so big and I wasn't there to support her like I should have been."

"You might not have been able to be there for her all the time, but you were there for her when it mattered." Fred said. "You stood by her when she first found out she was pregnant, you were there when she had Lyra, and more importantly you're here for both of them now."

"Look on the bright side, if you get her pregnant again you can witness an entire pregnancy first hand." George grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

"And I can be the wise, old father who can give you tips on handling a pregnant woman." Fred added, grinning along with his brother.

Draco laughed at the pair of them. "I'm not sure I'll ever count you as wise, Fred." He chuckled. "And something tells me your advice will be wildly inappropriate."

"True." Fred agreed, pleased that Draco was laughing and smiling again. "But I'm sure you'll appreciate tips on how to please a pregnant woman in bed."

"I don't need any tips in that department." Draco retorted. "I always know how to please Hermione, and she had no complaints when she was pregnant either."

"I thought you didn't see Hermione between her leaving school and you joining her in Australia." George said, puzzled by Draco's last words. "How did you manage to bed her while she was pregnant?"

"First of all, she was pregnant for about a six weeks before leaving school." Draco explained. "And I did see her once over Easter to discuss the plans for leaving."

"You saw her once and ended up in bed." George remarked in astonishment. "How the hell have you two not got thousands of kids? You can't keep your hands off each other."

"Jealous, George?" Draco smirked, raising an eyebrow at the redhead.

"Of course not." George snorted. "Angelina and I have plenty of sex. Our sex lives are smoking hot, we've done it in places you'd never believe."

"People do not need to hear that, George." Angelina scolded as the girls tuned back into the conversation in time to hear George's boasts.

"Why not?" George questioned. "I'm very proud of all the places I've managed to get some action from you."

"If you don't shut up, you'll not be getting any action for a while." Angelina snarled.

"Shutting up now." George said, mimicking zipping his mouth shut.

"Drat, it was just getting interesting." Fred declared as his brother shut up. "I was just about to challenge George. I bet me and Alicia have been more adventurous than you two."

"And I'm sure Hermione and I could beat you both." Draco challenged. "Did I tell you about the apron incident?"

"Don't you dare." Hermione snapped, slapping her husband's arm. "One mention of that apron and it will never happen again."

"Sorry lads, I'll have to leave you hanging." Draco smirked at the clearly curious twins.

"Oh come on, you can't leave it like that." Fred argued. "Talk about tantalising."

"I have to admit, I agree with Fred." Alicia said. "I'm now very curious about this apron."

"It was nothing." Hermione said, glaring at Draco for mentioning the incident. "I just cooked Draco a meal in an apron I'd charmed green and silver."

"And?" Angelina prompted. "You just know there's more to this story."

"Nothing, that's it." Hermione shrugged.

"What she means is that the apron was all she was wearing." Draco added, hoping Hermione wouldn't be too mad at him for volunteering the additional information.

"You were naked under the apron?" Fred questioned, looking at Hermione who nodded her head. "Hot."

"Very." George agreed. "Hey Ange, do you think you'd fancy cooking for me sometime."

"I don't know." Angelina said as she turned to Hermione. "Was it worth it, Hermione? Did you get some hot kitchen action?"

Hermione smiled at the memories of that night as she shot a look at Draco, who was smirking beside her. "Oh yeah, it was worth it. The kitchen definitely saw some action."

"Nice." Fred grinned at Draco, who grinned back.

From then on the conversation took a decidedly racier tone and by the end of the night Hermione had forgiven Draco for bringing up the apron incident. As it turned out both of the other couples had stories just as racy and Hermione was pleased to hear that she wasn't the only witch who had dressed up for her partner.


	26. Chapter 26

By the end of April the weather was starting to heat up nicely and Hermione and Draco had arranged to take Lyra to the zoo one warm Friday afternoon. Both Hermione and Draco had popped into work on the morning while Narcissa and Severus watched their granddaughter for a couple of hours.

Once he had finished work Draco headed to Magical Bites, where he got a cup of coffee and sat reading the paper while he waited for Hermione to finish work and his mother to drop Lyra off. Draco was so engrossed in the paper that he failed to notice his former friends enter the café, until he heard someone screeching his name. Looking up from his paper Draco grimaced as he spotted Pansy, Theo and Blaise heading his way.

"Draco mate, it's good to see you." Blaise grinned.

"Yeah, why didn't you get in touch when you returned?" Theo asked.

"It must have been awful for you, having to run away like that." Pansy cooed, settling down next to Draco without giving him a chance to reply to Theo's question.

"Leaving was the best thing I ever did." Draco remarked as he placed his paper down onto the table and edged away from Pansy. "And I didn't get in touch, because I didn't see the point."

"If it's because of what happened before you left, forget it." Blaise said as him and Theo also sat down at the table. "We understand you were stressed about Lucius and didn't mean to take it out on us."

"I meant every word I said." Draco said sharply. "And I also meant every punch I threw in your direction, I'm only sorry I didn't get to do more damage."

"Charming." Theo snorted. "Here's us forgiving you for your behaviour and you're insulting us some more."

"Did I not make myself clear, I don't want to be forgiven." Draco said slowly and concisely.

"What's happened to you?" Pansy asked, looking at the wizard she used to be in love with. In truth she was still a little bit in love with Draco and he had certainly grown up to be even better looking than when he was a teenager, but he'd also developed a cold side she'd never noticed until that last day at school.

"Nothing's happened to me." Draco shrugged. "I just have no desire to re-connect with three people I was happy to leave behind."

"If that's the case, we'll be leaving you." Theo said. "Come on Pans, let's go and see about our cake."

"Cake?" Draco questioned, wondering exactly what the three former Slytherins were doing in his wife's café.

"Our engagement cake." Pansy answered. "Theo and I are engaged." She bragged, flashing a large diamond ring at Draco.

"More fool you, Theo." Draco snorted. "You of all people should know what Pansy's like. She'll dump you the second something better comes along."

"You sound bitter, Draco." Theo smirked. "It must be awful to be all alone."

"I wouldn't know, I'm not alone." Draco replied. "Now weren't you about to leave and go to wherever your cake is?"

"Actually the cake isn't made, yet." Pansy admitted. "I've heard that this place does the most amazing cakes and I want to see if the owner will make our engagement cake, and if we like it our wedding cake as well."

Draco laughed at his former friend, knowing there was no way in hell she would be getting a cake made by Hermione. "Good luck with that."

Pansy glared at Draco before turning on her heel to leave. She took two steps before freezing and curling her nose up in distaste. Nudging Theo, she pointed at something Draco couldn't see from his seat.

"I don't think I want my cake from here after all." Pansy huffed. "I'm not sure their standards are very high if they employ tarts like Granger."

Draco growled menacingly at Pansy's words but before he had a chance to defend his wife she was approaching the table. As Hermione stopped by the table, Pansy could barely keep the distaste from her face and Theo and Blaise weren't much better, looking down their noses at Hermione.

"Is everything okay, here?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco and ignoring his former friends.

"It's fine, sweetheart." Draco said tightly. "Pansy, Theo and Blaise were just leaving."

"We were not." Pansy protested, placing her hands on her hips like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.

"Why are you calling Granger, sweetheart?" Theo asked, looking at the couple.

"I don't think it's anything to do with you what I call my wife." Draco said, standing up and wrapping his arm securely around Hermione's waist.

"Wife?" Pansy screeched, drawing the attention of a number of customers. "How long have you been married to the mudblood?"

"Call me wife that name one more time and I won't hesitate to throw your out of here on your scrawny backside." Draco growled at Pansy, his grey eyes flashing furiously. "And believe me, I'll make it bloody painful."

"Draco, stop it." Hermione said, placing a calming hand on Draco's chest. "And to answer your question Pansy, we've been married six months."

"Funny isn't it, that's just a few months after Lucius received the kiss and Draco inherited the family fortune. The whole thing reeks of a gold-digger to me." Pansy sneered. "What were you doing, looking for an easy option to support you and your little brat?"

"My daughter is not a brat." Hermione seethed, angry that Pansy had mentioned Lyra and dared to call her names.

"I think it's time for you lot to leave, now." Draco snarled through clenched teeth. He was close to snapping and he knew all it would take would be a few more nasty comments from Pansy to unleash his fury.

"Stop telling us to leave." Pansy snapped at Draco. "It's got nothing to do with you."

"It has however got something to do with me." Hermione said. "And I would like you three to leave."

"Who do you think you are, telling us to leave? You jumped up little tart." Pansy sniffed, looking Hermione up and down in distaste.

Draco growled again and Hermione had to hold him back from actually physically removing Pansy from the premises. "I'm the owner." She said. "And I'm asking you to leave."

The three former Slytherins were caught off guard by the news and they just looked at Hermione as though she had two heads or something. They still hadn't recovered when the door to the café opened and Narcissa and Severus walked in with Lyra in between them.

"Mummy! Daddy!" Lyra called, breaking away from her grandparents and rushing over to her parents.

Automatically Draco picked Lyra up and gave her a kiss, before passing her to Hermione. By this time his three former friends were gaping at them in shock and Narcissa and Severus had joined the group.

"No, this isn't happening." Pansy shook her head as if trying to dispel the images of what she was seeing. "You're not the one who knocked Granger up in school."

"Narcissa will you take Lyra into the kitchen." Hermione said, handing her daughter over to her mother-in-law. "I'm sure Luna can give her a nice treat before we leave."

Narcissa nodded and quickly hurried her granddaughter away, not wanting the little girl to be witness to the potentially ugly scene that lay ahead. Severus however stayed to back up his future step son and his wife.

"You and Granger." Theo said, disgust lacing his voice. "Seriously?"

"It's disgusting." Pansy said, still in shock. "She's a mudblood. Lucius would be so disappointed in you, Draco."

"Good." Draco snapped. "My father was an awful man and I would hate to think I've ever done anything that would make him proud."

"There's no chance of that." Pansy laughed. "You're a disgrace to us purebloods, sullying yourself with a tramp like her."

"That's rich coming from you." Severus chuckled. "You're the biggest tart I've ever taught. Not to mention the most vile girl I've ever know."

"You can't talk to me like that." Pansy huffed. "You're a Professor and Professors can't speak to their students like that."

"Actually, I'm not a Professor any longer and even if I were, you're not my student anymore." Severus replied. "So I can finally tell you what a bitchy little slapper you really are."

"That's enough." Theo called, finally stepping in to defend his fiancée. "Stop making out Pansy's a tart, she isn't."

"Come on Theo, you know she is." Draco said. "Just look at how she behaved in school. Every time I turned her down she ran to you, and in between trying it on with me she wasn't opposed to bedding other blokes."

"Something that hasn't seemed to fade from her behaviour I regret to inform you." Severus added, with a malicious smirk "She has just spent six months bedding Marcus Flint and now I believe she's hopping into bed with your best friend."

"What?" Theo swung round to look at a guilty looking Blaise. "I don't believe this."

"Theo, I can explain." Pansy begged.

"Don't bother the weddings off." Theo snarled as he turned and stormed out of the café.

"I hate you lot." Pansy hissed, before turning and running off after Theo.

"Oh dear, I think I ruined their wedding." Severus remarked, sounding anything but sorry.

Severus knew he had been pretty cruel to Pansy, but he'd always disliked the raven haired witch. Then there was the fact he felt he owed Hermione some kind of support as he hadn't helped back when she was pregnant. Severus felt immensely guilty that he hadn't stopped the name calling in his classes, so he was hoping this little defence of Hermione went some way to making up for his former bad behaviour.

"Such a shame." Hermione smiled at her former Potions Professor, appreciating his support. She knew he felt bad for what had happened in school and the fact he had let the students in his class get away with calling her names more than he should have.

"I'm sorry, Draco." Blaise said, speaking up for the first time in a long while. "I can see why you were so angry at the end of term."

"It's in the past, I don't want to think about it." Draco said. "I've moved on."

"I want you to know that I never would have said any of those things if I'd known about Hermione." Blaise told his former friend. "I'm sorry I went along with the crowd."

"You never went along with the crowd, Blaise." Draco snorted. "You're not like Theo who did and said things to help him fit in, you had your own opinions and thoughts and weren't afraid to share them. Everything you said about Hermione, you meant it. You wouldn't have said it otherwise."

"But I never would have said it, had I known the baby was yours and you two were together." Blaise argued.

"It doesn't matter now." Draco shrugged. "I can't forgive you for what you said."

"I'm understand, but I am genuinely sorry." Blaise said, before turning and leaving the café.

"Are you sure you don't want to go after him?" Hermione asked as she noticed Draco looking after his friend with a wistful expression on his face. "He did apologise and you might be able to rebuild your friendship."

"No, our friendship is in the past and that's where it belongs." Draco said, turning his attention back to Hermione and Severus. "Besides, it doesn't sound like Blaise has quite worked out what being a friend means. He certainly wasn't being a good friend to Theo."

"How did you know about Blaise and Pansy?" Hermione asked Severus.

"I still have a few of my old friends lurking around." Severus replied. "I had drinks with a few of them last week and they were telling me Pansy's father was trying to stop her fling with Blaise. Apparently he ensured Marcus Flint got a job abroad, to get him away from Pansy. He's furious that she keeps cheating on Theo, and he was desperate to bring her into line before he found out and called the wedding off."

"Why is he so bothered?" Hermione asked. "What's so special about Theo?"

"He's a pureblood from a rich family with connections to the dark. In Mr Parkinson's eyes that's a perfect match for his daughter." Draco explained.

"If I may suggest something." Severus said. "You two have a very excited little girl waiting for you, so maybe you should forget about the past and concentrate on her."

"You're right." Hermione nodded. "We promised Lyra a trip to the zoo, so we should get going."

Draco nodded and the three of them headed off towards the kitchens to pick up Lyra. "Is she really that excited?" He asked Severus.

"Like you won't believe." Severus chuckled. "She's spent all morning practising her animal sounds so she can talk to the animals."

Draco chuckled at his godfather's reply and the second they entered the kitchen he could hear Lyra roaring like a lion. After thanking Narcissa and Severus for looking after Lyra, Hermione and Draco took Lyra to the zoo, where she spent the afternoon talking to the animals.


	27. Chapter 27

The late afternoon sun shone down on Diagon Alley as Draco exited Weasley's Wizard Wheezes holding onto an excited Lyra. It was a few weeks before Lyra's third birthday and as a treat Draco had brought his daughter to Diagon Alley to do some shopping. After buying her clothes, toys and sweets Draco had taken her to see Fred and George, who'd given her a bag full of treats from their shop, and they were now heading to Magical Bites where they would wait for Hermione. Another part of Lyra's treat was to have a cake and drink in the café and to sit at one of the tables, like the big girl she now claimed to be.

The second Draco opened the door to the café Lyra removed her small hand from his and sprinted over to the small table by the window. Draco was pretty sure she had chosen that table because it offered her a perfect view of the twins shop and she would see either one of the redhead's if they ventured outside.

"Daddy, daddy." Lyra called, waving at Draco.

As he headed over to his daughter Draco caught sight of the occupants of a nearby table and inwardly groaned. Sitting openly watching Draco and Lyra were Potter, Weasley and their girlfriends. Draco briefly debated taking Lyra straight through to the back, but one look at his excited daughter changed his mind. Lyra had been so looking forward to sitting in the café that he wasn't going to let four former Gryffindors ruin his daughter's day.

"What colour cake do you want, Lyra?" Draco asked his daughter. They'd already decided she was having a hair-dye cupcake, now the only decision the toddler had to make was which colour she wanted her hair.

Lyra pursed her little lips as she gave the question some serious thought. "Green." She settled on eventually.

"Do you want milk as well?" Draco asked.

Lyra nodded eagerly and Draco told his daughter to stay put while he went and got the order. Since it was nearly closing time the café was fairly quiet and Draco could watch Lyra as he grabbed her cake and milk and a coffee for himself. Returning to his daughter he sat down opposite her, making sure his back was to the four nosey Gryffindors who were gawping at Lyra.

"Where's Mummy?" Lyra asked, as she took a small sip of her milk.

"She'll be here in a bit, sweetheart." Draco told his daughter. "Why don't we look at what you got from the joke shop?" He suggested, gesturing to the small purple bag Lyra had been carrying.

Lyra clapped her hands in joy and squealed as she delved into the bag. While Draco checked out the bag with his daughter he was very aware of the gossiping foursome behind him. Draco couldn't make out everything the former Gryffindors were saying, but he heard enough to know they were talking about him and Lyra. Trying to ignore his wife's former friends, Draco concentrated on Lyra and hoped the foursome would leave before Hermione came out to meet him and Lyra.

* * *

...

* * *

Since discovering Magical Bites in early February the café became a regular haunt for Ginny and Lavender. The two witches frequented the café two or three times a week and every couple of weeks they went there with Harry and Ron. In the four and a half months they had been going to the café they had seen Hermione on numerous occasions, but they had never once spoken to her.

By the end of June, the foursome didn't even bother to check if Hermione was working as they were rapidly losing interest in watching their former friend. In fact during their current visit they had twice failed to notice when she entered the main part of the café with fresh cakes and biscuits. Instead the foursome were happy eating fresh strawberry and cream cakes and planning Harry's birthday party that was to be held at the end of the following month.

"I wonder if this place does cakes for birthdays." Ginny mused as she polished off her third cake of the afternoon. "I bet they could do us a beautiful birthday cake."

"I wonder if they could put some sort of spell in it." Harry said. "That lust one at Valentine's day was brilliant."

"I don't really think lust potion is appropriate for your birthday." Ginny chuckled. "My parents will be at the party after all, and we don't want to witness them getting frisky."

"No we don't." Ron declared, shuddering at the mere thought of his parents getting intimate.

"Maybe we should ask." Lavender suggested.

Ginny nodded and was just about to go over to the counter when the door opened and the foursome spotted Draco Malfoy entering the café. The sight of the blond was definitely an unwelcome one, but what stunned them more was the little girl with him. With her platinum blond hair and pale complexion there was no doubt the girl was a Malfoy and she confirmed it a few minutes later when she called Malfoy, daddy.

"Bloody hell, who knew Malfoy had a kid." Ron muttered.

"He must have gotten someone pregnant almost as soon as he arrived in Australia." Ginny commented.

"I keep telling you, he wasn't even in Australia." Harry muttered. "I bet she's the spawn of some pureblood girl whose father's a Death Eater."

Harry's friends merely nodded along in silent agreement. They knew better than to argue against Harry's opinions about Malfoy, even though they all thought he was being irrational. Everyone else had accepted that Malfoy wasn't a Death Eater and had ran to avoid getting the mark but no matter what people said, Harry refused to see reason when it came to his former school enemy.

"Hey look, she's been to the joke shop." Lavender hissed, spotting the purple bag on the table when Malfoy had wandered off to the counter.

"We need to have a word with Fred and George. What do they think they're doing serving scum like Malfoy and his brat?" Ron snarled.

"Ssh, he'll hear you." Lavender whispered to her boyfriend as Malfoy strode past them and returned to his own table.

"Who cares if he can hear us?" Harry said loud enough so that his voice carried across the practically empty café. "Scum like him shouldn't be allowed in here."

"Harry, calm down." Ginny hissed at her boyfriend.

"Maybe we should leave." Lavender suggested.

Ginny nodded in agreement with her friend, but before they had a chance to leave they heard Malfoy's daughter mention her mother. When he told her that she would be here shortly curiosity got the better of the foursome and they decided to wait around and see who had been foolish enough to have a child with Draco Malfoy.

* * *

...

* * *

"Luna, I'm going to be going now." Hermione called across the kitchen to her friend. "Draco and Lyra should be here by now."

"I'll pop out with you and see Lyra." Luna said, wiping her hands on a tea towel and leaving the remaining few dishes to wash up later on.

Hermione smiled at her friend's eagerness to see her daughter as she grabbed her jacket and put it on. Chatting happily together Hermione and Luna left the kitchen and headed into the café. Luna immediately spotted the four former Gryffindors, but Hermione failed to see them as she was concentrating on her daughter, who currently had emerald green hair and was running towards her.

"Mummy, mummy." Lyra cried. "Look at my hair."

"Aren't you a pretty little Slytherin in the making?" Hermione laughed as she scooped Lyra up and gave her a big kiss.

"Bloody hell." Ron's shocked voice echoed around the café, causing Hermione to spot her former friends sitting looking at her in bewilderment.

"Lyra, come with me and I'll give you one of my new cakes." Luna said, quickly scooping the little girl out of Hermione's arms and ushering her into the kitchen.

"You shagged Malfoy." Ginny accused in a loud voice.

Sensing there was about to be some shouting, Hermione turned to the two girls working behind the counter and told them they could leave for the day. She then announced the café was closing and hurried the few remaining customers out of the door, before turning the sign round to closed.

"Why the hell are you shooing people out of here as though you own the place?" Lavender asked Hermione.

"I do own the place." Hermione replied. "And if you're not careful you four will be getting thrown out and barred."

"Don't worry, we won't be coming back here." Ginny sneered. "If we knew we were putting money into your pocket we wouldn't have ventured into here in the first place."

"If that's the case, then maybe you should leave now." Draco suggested.

"No way." Ron shook his head and glared at the blond. "We demand some answers."

"You have no right to demand anything." Hermione snorted. "I will answer your questions, but only because once upon a time we were friends."

"I suppose the first questions would be, what are you doing with him?" Harry asked. "He's evil Hermione, he was on the dark side during the war."

"Are you really that thick, Potter? You were in court when I testified, I was in Australia after running there to escape getting the mark." Draco scoffed at the former Gryffindor, wondering why he was refusing to let go of his old judgements.

"That was all a pack of lies. I know you were involved with the dark." Harry said, glaring at the blond.

"Let's get one thing straight, Draco was never a Death Eater. We were in Australia until after Voldemort was defeated." Hermione said, unwilling to let her former friend accuse her husband of something he hadn't done.

"I'm still not convinced." Harry sniffed.

"Tough." Draco snapped. "I don't have to convince you, you stupid little shit."

"Don't you go around calling people names." Ginny spat, clenching her fists in anger.

"I'm sorry, I forgot that's your forte isn't it." Draco remarked. "You four spent quite a while going around calling Hermione names."

"We just told the truth." Lavender shrugged. "That your precious little witch there, is a big slapper."

"It's funny that because Draco was the first person I ever slept with, and he's still the only person I've ever slept with. I'm not sure how that makes me a slapper to have only ever been with one man." Hermione retorted.

"Hermione's got a point, if she's loose for sleeping with just me I hate to think what you two are." Draco said, smirking at Ginny and Lavender. "I know for a fact that both of you have been with people other than Potter and Weasley. For example, you've both shagged Blaise Zabini. He used to brag about how easy the pair of you were, apparently you were the easiest two tarts he banged. His words not mine, by the way."

"You're a right foul git." Ron said, looking at Draco in disgust. "No wonder you didn't want to admit shagging him, Hermione. I would be ashamed if I were you."

"I wasn't ashamed." Hermione stated. "I would have loved to have told people, but it wasn't safe. We needed to keep it a secret so we could run."

"It's a shame you came back then." Harry snarled. "You know Hermione, I never bought into the theory you were a tart, I always thought there had to be a reasonable explanation as to how you ended up pregnant so young. Turns out I was wrong, you'd have to be a huge slapper in order to spread your legs for a scumbag like Malfoy."

"You bastard." Draco snarled. "That's my wife you've just insulted."

Before Hermione had a chance to react and stop him, Draco had lunged at Harry and his fist connected with his face. Harry went down in a heap as his glasses flew off and blood splattered onto the floor.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny rushed to her boyfriend's side and helped him sit up and put his glasses back on.

"You're going to pay for that, Malfoy." Ron snapped, lunging at the blond.

Draco dodged out of Ron's way, before capturing the redhead by the arms and kneeing him in the groin. Ron let out a high pitch squeal and collapsed to the floor, his hands holding onto his bruised privates.

"That's enough." Hermione yelled, pulling Draco behind her and glaring at him before returning her focus to her former friends. "I want you four out of my café, and you're not welcome here anymore."

"You haven't heard the last of this." Harry threatened as Ginny and Lavender hauled their men to their feet.

"Get out." Hermione snarled, not in the mood for threats.

As the four former Gryffindors slunk out of the café, Hermione hurried after them and locked the door. She then turned back to Draco, who opened his mouth to apologise.

"Don't." She said, holding her hand up and stopping Draco before he spoke. "I don't want to talk about it, I just want to take Lyra home."

Draco nodded and followed his wife into the kitchen where they collected Lyra and headed off back home. Once at home Draco went off to fix his hand and when he returned Hermione never once mentioned the run-in with her former friends.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N – Thanks for all the great support I've received for this story, I really appreciate ever single review/favourite/follow I get. **

**I now have a firm plan for a sequel in place, but I haven't yet started to write it. I'm currently working on a few other stories so I don't know when I will start it, but now I have a firm plot I'm hopeful it will get going soon. I can't however guarantee it will be completed any time in the near future, I have over 200 ideas and I can't really predict which ones will capture my attention at any time. When I get the sequel wrote, I'll make sure to post a note on this story.**

* * *

Molly Weasley was enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the back garden of the Burrow. It was a warm July day, she had her favourite romance book on her knee and she had a large glass of elf made wine sitting on the table beside her. Molly was just drifting off for a nice nap when the kitchen door opened and Fred and George bounded into the garden.

"Hello, you two." Molly smiled at the twins. "What are you doing here?"

"We just popped by to tell you we can't make it to lunch tomorrow." Fred said, dropping into one of the garden chairs.

"Is this because of whatever is going on between you two and your brother and sister?" Molly asked, scrutinising the twins. "Don't think I haven't noticed the atmosphere between the pair of you and Ron, Ginny and Harry. It's being going on since before Christmas and frankly, I'm getting tired of it."

"No, it has nothing to do with that." George replied as he settled down next to Fred. "We're actually going to a birthday party tomorrow afternoon."

"A birthday party?" Molly questioned. "But Harry's party isn't until next week."

"I don't think we'll be attending that." Fred snorted. "But we're actually going to Lyra's third birthday."

"Who's Lyra?" Molly frowned, not recognising the name.

"Hermione's daughter." George answered.

"You've seen Hermione. How is she?" Molly gasped. "Why hasn't she been in touch? Does she hate me after the awful way I reacted to her pregnancy? Of course she does, I looked at her as though she was dirt and I feel so bad."

"Mum, slow down." Fred stopped his mother mid-rant, not wanting her to work herself up into a state. "We'll explain everything."

The twins knew all about Hermione's recent run-in with Harry, Ron, Ginny and Lavender and they had decided now they knew Hermione was back that it was time Molly was brought up to date. It was time Molly found out the true reason Hermione hadn't been in touch since leaving school.

"And our explanation will probably explain our attitude towards Ron, Ginny and Harry." George added.

"Well it all started just before Christmas when George and I decided to welcome our new neighbour to Diagon Alley." Fred started the tale. "Imagine our shock when we went over to say hello and found Hermione opening up the loveliest little café just opposite our shop."

"Hermione owns the new café in Diagon Alley?" Molly questioned. "I've heard that place is lovely and it does the most unique cakes and treats."

"It does." Fred nodded. "Hermione is a brilliant baker and everything you get from there is just delicious."

"But that's not really the point." George said, steering the conversation back on track. "The point is when we saw Hermione we got talking and she told us the truth about her reasons for leaving school when she did and why she hadn't been in touch since."

"First of all to cut a long story short Hermione is married to Draco Malfoy and he's Lyra's father." Fred said. "So obviously that explains why she couldn't tell anyone, especially considering what Lucius might have done to her if he'd known."

"Of course it explains her secrecy." Molly sighed, wishing she'd been there for Hermione so she could have confided in her.

"Anyway, Hermione also told us that one of the reasons she decided to leave over Christmas was the abuse she was suffering." Fred said.

"I know, Ron, Ginny and Harry told us what people were saying." Molly nodded sadly, remembering that at the time she had been just as cruel as the students in her dismissal of Hermione.

"What they didn't mention was that they were also saying nasty things about her." George said, anger lacing his tone. "They were calling Hermione names just as much as anyone else and they certainly weren't being supportive of her."

"But what about the message I gave them to pass onto Hermione?" Molly questioned. "Ron said they wrote to Hermione after they found out she hadn't returned, but she never got back in touch."

"They never wrote to her." Fred said. "Hermione never got your message. Until we spoke to her she was under the impression you hated her."

"And here was me thinking the same thing." Molly sighed. "I thought she hadn't responded because of the terrible way I treat her at the train station. If only I'd known I would have gone and seen her and apologised in person."

"You could do that now." Fred suggested. "Go to the café and speak to Hermione. I know for a fact that she'll talk to you."

"But what if she doesn't forgive me?" Molly questioned worriedly. "I'm not sure I can face her when she might reject me."

"We've explained your reaction to her." George told his mother. "She was hurt by your actions, but she was pleased to hear that by the end of the holidays you'd come round. If Ron had passed the message on she would have replied and been grateful for your support."

"I'll definitely think about contacting her." Molly decided. "But first I have to deal with Ron, Harry and Ginny. In fact I might make them contact Hermione and apologise."

"Don't." George said, shaking his head.

"They had a run-in with Hermione a few weeks ago at the café and they reacted badly to her relationship with Draco." George explained. "They were still very nasty about Hermione and Draco ended up punching Harry and Ron."

"Harry then tried to press charges against Draco, and Hermione was furious. Luckily the charges didn't stick and Draco wasn't charged." George added. "Getting them to contact Hermione would be a bad idea. They've blown their friendship with her and frankly I can't blame Hermione for hating the lot of them."

"This whole thing is such a mess." Molly said, shaking her head sadly. "I just wish I could fix it."

"I don't think anything needs fixing." George said. "Hermione is happy with her life and in my opinion it's Ron, Ginny and Harry that are missing out. They've lost Hermione and they only have themselves to blame."

"Plus they're missing out on getting to know one of the brightest, funniest little kids I've ever met." Fred grinned. "Honestly mum you should meet Lyra, she's such a little charmer."

"Tell me about her." Molly said, settling back as the twins regaled her of stories of the little girl she might never get the chance to meet.

By the time Fred and George left Molly had made a firm decision to go and visit Hermione and see if their relationship could be salvaged. The twins were hopeful it would happen, they were also hopeful that Molly would give Harry, Ron and Ginny a good tongue lashing the following day. Part of them wanted to turn up to watch the inevitable fireworks but they knew they would just have to settle for hearing about them second hand, instead they had an appointment with a gorgeous little birthday girl the following day.

* * *

...

* * *

Hermione smiled in happiness as she watched an excited Lyra chasing her new puppy around the back garden. The three year old had been absolutely spoiled by everyone and had mountains of toys and clothes as presents. The puppy had been a gift from Hermione and Draco as they'd both had dogs as children and they thought it would be nice for Lyra to have a dog as well.

"Ariel, stop." Lyra laughed as she collapsed onto the grass and the puppy began licking at her face.

The puppy had been named after the main character in The Little Mermaid as it was now Lyra's favourite film, even more so after Hermione and Luna had perfected a charm to place in a biscuit to give Lyra a tail when she had a bath. Almost every bath time Lyra wanted to be a mermaid, but since it meant she caused no fuss about bathing Hermione had no problems with giving her a biscuit. Like all the charms she used in her baking it only worked for about ten minutes, but those ten minutes of being a mermaid were fantastic for Lyra and the charm was completely safe so Hermione had no worries with using it on her daughter.

"Hey." Draco suddenly appeared behind Hermione and wrapped his arms around his wife's waist as he placed a kiss on her cheek. "Are you having fun?"

"I'm having fun watching Lyra have fun." Hermione smiled. "It's lovely to see her surrounded by people who love her."

Draco nodded in agreement as he looked around the crowded back garden. Hermione's parents were here as were his mother and Severus, Luna of course was present as were Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia. Also attending the party was Professor McGonagall, who was getting know Lyra. The pair had briefly met at Draco and Hermione's wedding, but since McGonagall had only attended the ceremony she hadn't had a chance to get to know the little girl. Just like everyone else McGonagall had been charmed by the youngest Malfoy and had instantly fallen in love with the little blonde girl.

"Just think this time next year it'll be even more crowded." Draco remarked, his hand resting protectively on Hermione's stomach.

The couple had just discovered they were expecting their second child and they were thrilled at the prospect of giving Lyra a little brother or sister. So far no-one knew of Hermione's pregnancy and they had been debating whether or not to mention it today or to wait a bit longer. They didn't want to draw attention away from Lyra, but they also didn't want to keep the news to themselves for too long as they were both fairly excited. Plus if they waited much longer they would run the risk of overshadowing a couple of other special occasions.

In six weeks Alicia was due to give birth, but she'd already had a couple of false alarms and the Healers were fairly confident that the baby would be premature and she could literally go into labour at any time. Also in a fortnight Narcissa and Severus were due to be married in a quiet ceremony, with a certain little three year old acting as bridesmaid. Hermione and Draco didn't want to overshadow either event so they were leaning more towards announcing their news today.

"What are you two doing lurking over there?" George called, drawing the couple's attention to the lawn where everyone else was gathering around the table.

"Come on, it's time to cut the cake." Jean called.

Hermione and Draco made their way over to the table where Lyra was standing on a chair next to Jean, looking at her cake in awe. Hermione and Luna had made the cake and it was a scene from The Little Mermaid that included all of Lyra's favourite characters.

"Do you like the cake, sweetheart?" Hermione asked as Lyra pointed out the characters for people.

"Will I be a mermaid if I eat it?" Lyra asked.

"No, not this time." Hermione chuckled. "This cake just tastes nice."

Lyra nodded as Draco placed three candles into the cake and lit them. Draco then moved so he was standing beside his daughter. Wrapping an arm around her waist he helped her lean forward to blow out her candles.

"Don't forget to make a wish." Luna said.

"I wish for a baby brother or sister." Lyra announced as the last candle flickered out.

"You're supposed to keep wishes a secret or they won't come true." Narcissa told her granddaughter.

Lyra's face fell as she turned to Draco. "Will my wish not come true?" She asked sadly.

"Actually Lyra, your wish will come true in about seven months." Draco said, causing Lyra to grin up at him. "You're going to have a little brother or sister to play with."

"Yeah." Lyra grinned. "Thanks Mummy. Thanks Daddy."

As Draco put Lyra back down and sent her off to play with Ariel everyone gathered around to congratulate the couple. Hermione couldn't help but compare the announcement with the previous time she had been pregnant. Back in school her pregnancy had been met with scorn and apart from her and Draco no-one had been pleased with the news. Now nearly four year later the couple had a wealth of support and everyone was happy for them to be expanding their little family.

**The End.**


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